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Inspiration
Most people's digital lives are controlled entirely by just a few entities which provide seemingly unbeatable software services. Due to their unformidable reputation as being the leaders in software, the average consumer has grown to trust these companies . However, plenty of recent cybersecurity hacks such as Solar Hacks have proven that no individual/entity is fully protected from cybersecurity attacks. Furthermore, ethical concerns persist whether small groups should be able to wield such massive power. Therefore, the need for a server system which mitigates these risks is imminent.
What it does
To solve the above stated problems, we have built the server framework Unhinged. The name is inspired by the nature of the server system, as the system is not reliant on any central server. The system is a conglomeration of Relay servers, which are the core of our project. The average client is connected to the closest Relay server to them, which can store any data in the network and connect to other users of the network. Though these sound like simplistic tasks, a network of these seemingly simple servers can achieve huge tasks. For example, an entire decentralized chat system can rely on this network, as the system can transmit data to other users within the network and store/retrieve any data produced by the users. Ideally, the relay servers will be self hosted by volunteers and reputable organizations.
How we built it
We built the Relay servers primarily through Node.js due to the sheer versatility it offers. Then we decided to deploy it on AWS servers. Though we tried to use Google Cloud Servers, Gcloud did not approve our credits resulting in us using AWS, a cheaper alternative.
Challenges we ran into
The field of Network Infrastructure is a lot more complicated than we imagined. We had experience in creating websites at home, but the sheer complexity of Network Infrastructure we needed to know to entirely complete the project is beyond the scope of a 24-hour timeframe. As a result, there were many times we ran into technically challenging problems to solve in our system, and as of right now we have fixed most conceptual issues we foresaw.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We made Relay servers, which are the most essential component of our system and temporarily deployed it on AWS. Though we were not able to make the example chat app which proves the system's application, we have built the essential building blocks and have proved they can connect two clients.
What we learned
Most of all, we have learned the niches and caveats of a field as complex as network infrastructure. We thought we would be able to finish the framework and the example app. However, we were wrong. We ran into many complications and learned more about network infrastructure on the way.
What's next for Unhinged
With the future of web, decentralization will surely be a continuing trend and we are confident that unhinged has a bright future ahead if we continue to develop a quality application in even 6 months. Our teammates will surely continue to contribute to ultimately create a truly original, helpful, and futuristic application.
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