How DePINs Are Solving Privacy, Security, and Latency in Data Hosting Worldwide
The web hosting market is projected to grow substantially, with anticipated revenue of $192.85 billion in 2025. Mobile data dominates the communication service market with a forecast of $671 billion, while revenue in the mobile voice market is expected to reach $244.3 billion this year. Enterprises worldwide seek private, secure, low-latency, and affordable data transmission hosting for their applications. Among them are companies like Uber, Zoom, Microsoft, and AI-driven platforms requiring scalable compute solutions for inference and training.
Uber can log metadata and monitor calls
Uber allows users to contact their drivers without revealing their phone number. Instead, they can make a free call directly from the Uber app. The driver doesn't see their number when they call or text but receives a text message or call from an anonymous local number. However, the feature operates within Uber's app and infrastructure, meaning all calls are routed through Uber's servers and systems. Uber often uses VoIP for calls, relying on its centralized backend to facilitate communication between riders and drivers. The company can log metadata such as timestamps, duration, and possibly recordings, which causes discomfort in some riders and drivers who suspect Uber monitors calls.
Since the feature relies on VoIP, it can suffer from poor connection quality in areas with weak internet. Latency, dropped calls or distorted audio may occur, especially if either party has a slow network. Some regions or devices may not support in-app calling, requiring users to rely on SMS or external calls. Finally, calls are restricted to the Uber app, meaning users can't redial a driver later if disconnected.
Zoom's scalable architecture suffers from PSTN constraints
Zoom operates data centers in 17 locations worldwide, but it faces potential constraints related to PSTN, the traditional, circuit-switched telephone network that enables landline and mobile phone calls worldwide. In some cases, the local carriers that operate dial-in numbers hit limits during periods of congestion. Zoom then uses VoIP audio to continue communicating without relying on the carriers, which comes with the inconvenience of using a mobile phone.
Decentralized service providers can switch calls dynamically between PSTN and SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)-based VoIP routes to avoid overburdened phone lines. Datagram, a decentralized real-time communication infrastructure platform, can provide enterprises with a scalable alternative to traditional cloud providers like AWS, which Zoom uses, via Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePINs).
How private are World of Warcraft's servers, really?
Theoretically, players of World of Warcraft (WoW), which Microsoft acquired in 2023, can set up private servers worldwide. These servers allow them to modify game settings and difficulty levels, and the unique gameplay scenarios they can create differ from the official servers. Private servers make it possible to play only with friends or a closed community, delivering a more personal experience. Hosting their own server enables players to experiment with scripts and other customizations and improve the gaming experience.
However, privacy is an illusion. WoW servers are a centralized system managed by Blizzard Entertainment. The company owns and operates all WoW servers globally, maintaining full control over their operation, updates, and moderation. Players have to connect to Blizzard's infrastructure. What's more, they're not even setting up their own servers. The reason anyone's able to set up a "private" server to begin with is because of open-source projects like MaNGOS, created in 2005 to provide a server application for WoW. Its code was completely public, and anyone, anywhere, could access it and offer a contribution. The MaNGOS code and derivative projects were released under the GNU GPL license, which requires users to publicize all changes to the code. Many gaming community members take issue with the fact that not all users do so. Instead, many private server administrators lie that they wrote the core.
Some users take credit for fixes that they took from the open-source community and applied to their core. In cases where private servers really do develop solutions, they often have dedicated development teams whom they pay with players' donations, and few share the fixes with the developer community. Apart from these deceptive practices, there is another consideration: if private server developers haven't shared work and the server closes, it's lost forever.
Web3 companies bring affordable, high-performance connectivity
In addition to providing viable ways to mitigate deceptive practices, Web3 companies are gaining an increasing share of the data transfer market using DePINs. Datagram's AI-powered Hyper-Fabric Network harnesses idle bandwidth and hardware to transform underused resources into a scalable DePIN, making it a feasible solution for enterprises seeking affordable, high-performance connectivity. The platform's initial use case was real-time audio and video communication, with applications evolving to include AI training, online gaming, and content delivery networks, among others.
Securing its position at the top of the DePIN space, Datagram recently launched its Core Substratea live, connectivity-focused baselayer designed to power decentralized applications and infrastructure. This new layer enables developers to easily deploy dedicated DePIN networks across verticals such as AI, multiplayer gaming, and content delivery. By offering a drop-in replacement for centralized cloud services with dramatically lower costs, it opens the door for broader enterprise adoption.
The fabric layers enable low-latency data transmission, and the hyper-network layer optimizes scalability, traffic, and congestion management. The platform leverages AI-driven routing to predict traffic patterns and achieves maximum efficiency by balancing network loads. Datagram guarantees transparent, tamper-proof performance metric logging to support its self-sustaining network. The platform has achieved hosting capability for UDP-based applications, provides hosting solutions for RTC-related applications within Avalanche's ecosystem, and hosts games in partnership with ISKRA, an all-in-one blockchain game platform.
DePINs provide decentralized web hosting, which uses peer-to-peer networking and blockchain technology to give individuals and companies full control over their servers and the stored data so no one can manipulate or even access the website's content. Blockchains distribute the processing power and storage required for hosting across a node network run by independent parties, doing away with the risks of a single point of failure and a central authority controlling information flow.
While legacy cloud providers dedicate a whole GPU per user, the user rarely utilizes it fully, and power is left idle. Centralized providers simply don't have the means to pool and use the idle power, which isn't the case for DePIN solutions, which easily transfer it to the end user. Finally, decentralized web hosting improves global access, and data is distributed across a node network globally, so there is no need for energy-draining data centers.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
Text source: Crypto Daily™
