🌐 AetherNet-DRFS

AetherNet-DRFS (Decentralized Redundant File System) is a modular, self-healing, and fault-tolerant file storage system designed for resilience and security. It combines Reed-Solomon erasure coding, AES-256 encryption, and a Distributed Hash Table (DHT) to distribute and manage files across dynamically connected peers.

🔐 Secure. 🔄 Redundant. ⚙️ Decentralized.

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🚀 Features

• 🧮 Reed-Solomon Erasure Coding — Ensures data recoverability even if some chunks are lost.
• 🔒 AES-256 Encryption — Military-grade encryption per chunk for enhanced security.
• 📡 Dynamic Peer Registration — Peers can join/leave the network at any time.
• 🔁 Heartbeat Monitoring — Real-time liveness detection of peers.
• 🔁 Redundant Storage — Parity chunks provide fault tolerance and automatic recovery.
• 📂 Local Storage — All data/parity stored on file system, no external DBs.
• 📎 Auto Cleanup — Automatically removes encrypted files after distribution.
• 🖥️ API-Based Architecture — Controlled via backend APIs for extensibility.
• 🗂️ Folder Structure Per Peer — Runs multiple peers simultaneously on same machine.

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📁 Project Structure

AetherNet-DRFS/
├── master/
│ ├── config/
│ ├── core/
│ ├── peer-interface/
│ ├── routes/
│ ├── services/
│ ├── utils/
│ └── index.js
│
├── peer/
│ ├── config/
│ ├── routes/
│ ├── services/
│ ├── utils/
│ └── index.js
│
└── README.md

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⚙️ How It Works

🔁 Workflow

1. User uploads file via file explorer to the master node.
2. Master node chunks the file using Reed-Solomon (6 data + 3 parity by default) and then encrypts using AES-256-GCM.
3. Chunks are distributed to peers using a round-robin algorithm.
4. Each peer stores chunks locally in its data or parity directory.
5. Heartbeat mechanism keeps track of which peers are alive.
6. Chunks can be requested and reconstructed even if some peers go offline.

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🔧 Tech Stack

Component	Technology
Backend Runtime	Node.js (ESModules)
Networking	Express.js APIs
Security	AES-256 GCM Encryption
Redundancy	Reed-Solomon JS
Storage	Default File System
Monitoring	Heartbeat System

🧠 Note: No external databases are used. All mappings and logs are file-based.

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⚙️ Configuration

• Data/Parity Count: 6 data chunks + 3 parity chunks per file.
• Heartbeat Interval:
  • Peers → Master: every 10 seconds
  • Master marks peer offline if no ping in 30 seconds
• Storage Path (Can be customized):
  • Master Upload Folder: master/user-uploads
  • Master registry: master/persistent/peer-registry.json
  • Master DHT: master/persistent/dht-mapping.json
  • Peer-specific chunk folders: peer/storage/peer-01/data and parity

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🧪 How to Run

1. Master

(Copy .env.example to .env and/or customize variables)

cd master
npm install
node index.js

2. Peers (Can run multiple)

cd peer
npm install
NODE_ID=peer-01 PORT=4001 STORAGE_FOLDER=storage/peer-01 node index.js
NODE_ID=peer-02 PORT=4002 STORAGE_FOLDER=storage/peer-02 node index.js

(Can also use pre-defined scripts in package.json)

Each peer will create its own storage folders and automatically register with the master.

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🧑‍💻 Contributors

• 👨‍💻 Devik Gupta
• 👨‍💻 Navalpreet Kaur
• 👨‍💻 Abhishek Patwal
• 👨‍💻 Priya Bahuguna

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the ISC License — a permissive license allowing reuse with minimal restrictions.

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Built with 🔥 by the AetherNet Team.