Blockchain Technology For Cloud Storage - A Systematic Literature Review

Blockchain Technology for Cloud Storage: A Systematic
Literature Review
PRATIMA SHARMA and RAJNI JINDAL, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India
MALAYA DUTTA BORAH, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Assam, India
The demand for Blockchain innovation and the significance of its application has inspired ever-progressing
exploration in various scientific and practical areas. Even though it is still in the initial testing stage, the
blockchain is being viewed as a progressive solution to address present-day technology concerns, such as de-
centralization, identity, trust, character, ownership of data, and information-driven choices. Simultaneously,
the world is facing an increase in the diversity and quantity of digital information produced by machines and
users. While effectively looking for the ideal approach to storing and processing cloud data, the blockchain
innovation provides significant inputs. This article reviews the application of blockchain technology for se-
curing cloud storage.
CCS Concepts: • General and reference → Surveys and overviews; • Computer systems organization
→ Peer-to-peer architectures; • Information systems → Distributed storage; • Security and privacy →
Security services;
Additional Key Words and Phrases: Blockchain technology, decentralization, cloud computing, cloud security,
cloud storage
ACM Reference format:
Pratima Sharma, Rajni Jindal, and Malaya Dutta Borah. 2020. Blockchain Technology for Cloud Storage: A
Systematic Literature Review. ACM Comput. Surv. 53, 4, Article 89 (August 2020), 32 pages.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3403954
1 INTRODUCTION
In recent years, cloud technology has attained an emerging trend by showing a possibility in both
academia and industry for its efficiency and availability. Although it is a widely accepted technol-
ogy, with an outburst of data origins, there has been an increased issue of storage and usage of
data owing to the inability of a conventional data management tool to manage the exponentially
growing data. The traditional cloud storage model comprised a back-end platform that could be
storage or server, a front-end platform that could be a mobile device or a client and a network,
possibly an intranet or internet. Attention is given to cloud technology with this outburst of data
origin by the researchers in presenting solutions for the intricacies of storage and usability in cloud 89
storage technology [1].
Author’s addresses: P. Sharma and R. Jindal, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Delhi Technological Uni-
versity, Bawana Road, Delhi-110042, India; emails: pratimasharma1114@gmail.com, rajnijindal@dce.ac.in; M. D. Borah,
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Fakiratilla, Silchar, Assam
788010, India; email: malayaduttaborah@gmail.com.
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https://doi.org/10.1145/3403954
ACM Computing Surveys, Vol. 53, No. 4, Article 89. Publication date: August 2020.
89:2 P. Sharma et al.
Cloud computing is usually adopted in military and commercial environments to aid in data
storage. The heterogeneous environments of cloud computing are distributed with various com-
ponents of the hardware and software that are obtained from the vendors, which could introduce
incompatibility and vulnerabilities. The security affirmation of inter- and intra-cloud transfer and
management of information emerges as a key issue [2]. Cloud computing is a pay-per-use model
to enable on-demand, convenient available network access for shared computing resources, such
as storage, servers, applications, and networks, which could be provisioned quickly and released
with minimum effort of management or interaction with the service providers [3, 4].
Outsourcing computation is a vital service provided by cloud computing, thereby acting as one
of the significant advantages of the cloud. With the approach of pay-per-use, the computing re-
sources are used by the cloud, further overcoming the limitations of computationally weak devices
[5, 6] by outsourcing their data within the cloud. The user can rent and pay the storage services or
utility computation based on the requirement with the help of the cloud services. When compared
with traditional storage techniques, the cloud is more flexible and has elasticity [7]. The user device
has a limited storage capacity, so the data are stored on the cloud. For the classifier and data, con-
fidentiality is vital because of privacy requirements, and the service provider is not trusted [8, 9].
The major challenge explored and highlighted by the researchers is the processing and storing
of data into the cloud. Moreover, while saving the data, the issue of heterogeneity is considered
the main challenge for the researchers. This issue of heterogeneity in data storage is termed as
big data or large-scale data. The cloud environment and the technology of the blockchain [10] are
adapted for this usability. Therefore, for the improvement in the performance of existing appli-
cations, these two approaches are combined [11]. Therefore, blockchain is a distributed and safe
networking system in which many computers called nodes are stored. This technology is of the
utmost importance with many possibilities for transmitting and storing a vast volume of data. It
also minimizes costs and improves accuracy [12].
In this survey article, the following main points are covered:
• An overview of cloud storage and blockchain technology is briefly highlighted and

analyzed.
• Existing cloud storage techniques and blockchain-based studies are addressed, and their
advantages, disadvantages are explained.
• Various blockchain-based cloud storage applications are explored.
• Blockchain-based distributed cloud storage technologies are analyzed based on various pa-
rameters, and basic building blocks are summarized.
• Inferences and recommendations are given.
Figure 1 illustrates an overview of the study in the form of a block diagram. First, the article
presents an overview of cloud computing and blockchain as separate concepts, reviews the studies
that integrate blockchain and cloud storage, and analyzes real-life projects based on blockchain and
cloud storage. Finally, some properties of blockchain for secure cloud storage are analyzed, chal-
lenges are discussed, inferences are drawn from the study, and some suggestions are made based
on the inferences. This article is arranged as follows: Section 2 discusses the procedure for the sys-
tematic literature review. Section 3 covers the background details of cloud storage and blockchain
technology. The work-related to cloud computing and blockchain technology is explained in
Section 4. Section 5 covers the study of current blockchain-based cloud storage. Section 6 includes
the various real-life projects related to blockchain-based decentralized cloud storage technolo-
gies. Section 7 presents the properties of blockchain-based secure cloud storage. Blockchain and
cloud storage integration requirements and challenges are listed in Section 8. Section 9 highlights
Blockchain Technology for Cloud Storage: A Systematic Literature Review 89:3
Fig. 1. Overall flow of the study.
inferences and suggestions related to blockchain-based cloud storage. Finally, conclusions are pro-
vided in Section 10.
2 METHODOLOGY OF SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

One of the main research areas of research methodologies is the Systematic Literature Review
(SLR). The undertaking of the SLR methodology is crucial for evaluating current cloud storage
details. The main aim of this review article is to examine or detect the relevant literature based on
blockchain for cloud storage. The SLR process phases are illustrated as follows:
As shown in Figure 2, the SLR phases include review protocol, searching queries, selection of
sources, study selection, data extraction, and analysis. Review protocol sets out the strategies that
are to be used in the process of a systematic review. In the current research, the SLR’s principal
methodology is used to discover the published papers in the field of blockchain technology and
cloud storage. This study’s main objective is to provide an overview of the current research on
blockchain-based cloud storage techniques. Thus, we explained six research queries.
• RQ1: What are the different prevention methods utilized by cloud storage providers while
sharing information to anticipate the threats?
To identify the present security methods used in cloud computing.
Fig. 2. Overview of SLR process.
• RQ2: What are the different strategies used for preventing the illegal use of data stored on
the cloud?
To identify the different techniques that are used for preventing the stored information in the
cloud.
• RQ3: What are the main security difficulties to be faced in the future based on cloud storage
technology?
To discuss future cloud computing security techniques.
• RQ4: What are the current research topics of blockchain technology?
To study and understand the blockchain technology, we thereby collected all the critical research
papers from logical databases and mapped the current research area.
• RQ5: What are blockchain technology’s current research topics for cloud storage?
To study and understand the blockchain technology-based cloud storage techniques. This
would, hence, help the researchers to figure out the present research topics related to blockchain
technology for cloud storage.
• RQ6: What are the different methods utilized to save, delete, and update the cloud data using
blockchain technology?
To study and understand the methods used to perform the various operation on the cloud data
using blockchain technology.
The search was directed from 2010 until 2019 by utilizing the online logical database. The search
methodology for the survey was necessarily coordinated toward finding distributed papers in jour-
nals and conference papers through the accepted literature search engines and databases Google
Scholar, Springer Digital Library, ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, Elsevier and Science Direct. In
2018, the published articles had the highest rank. Likewise, papers distribution based on published
articles from 2010–2019 appears in Figure 3.
50
No. of References
40 39 40
30
20 22
15
10
3 2 5 5
2 2
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Year
Fig. 3. Distribution of papers from 2010 to 2019.
3 BACKGROUND
3.1 Overview of Cloud Storage
The cloud is described as the chain of servers and connections to give a computing benefit for
storing the user data. Presently, several organizations and internet sources are adopting cloud
storage for individual and organizational users [13]. One of the cloud computing models is cloud
storage, which stores a colossal amount of data and can be retrieved using the internet. Cloud
storage service providers can control any data, i.e., organized or semi-organized [14].
Cloud storage provides a deliberation to physical capacity gadgets. Also, it presents information
storage as a service, regularly charged on a user premise. It is this reason for cloud storage, which
enables a client to store and access information records someplace within the cloud, without un-
derstanding the points of interest of where documents are saved. Moreover, the record can be made
accessible on a worldwide premise in cloud storage [15]. The expansion of the number of clients
who put their benefits on the cloud has led the cloud storage to become an important theme. How-
ever, these clients regularly do not trust the fact where their information will be stored and who
will approach this information. Hence, numerous clients feel the commitment of applying safety
efforts to have an aggregate authority over their information. For this, authentication, integrity,
availability, confidentiality, and privacy problems are the requirements that the users look for. In
the explicit instance of endeavor, these suggest essential contemplation; ought to be incorporated
into any cloud benefit contract.
3.2 Blockchain Technology Overview

Blockchain is one of the most hyped advances nowadays and has gained considerable importance
as an innovation widely deployed in various areas [16, 17]. The blockchain is viewed mainly as
an accounting book or digital distributed database [18]. After its commencement in 2008 [19],
blockchain has continued to develop as a disruptive advance that might alter the way we inter-
face, make computerized expenses, follow up, and monitor transactions [20]. Blockchain could
be cost-effective, removing the centralized authority’s need to monitor and regulate transactions
and interactions between different members. In the blockchain, every transfer is cryptographically
marked and confirmed by other mining entities holding a copy of the entire record consisting of all
the transactions. This makes records step by step, safe, synchronized, and shared time that cannot
be adjusted [21]. Furthermore, blockchain technology is known to be an information technology
that can be used in software, business, and trade sectors [22]. The architecture of the blockchain
is illustrated in Figure 4.
Fig. 4. Architecture of Blockchain.
Key Characteristics of Blockchain

• Distributed: The distributed environment uses the standard protocol, which ensures that ev-
ery node receives each transaction and uses predefined rules for grouping the transactions
into blocks after processing. The blockchain is designed for distributing and synchronizing
the data across multiple networks.
• Decentralization: It is the core strength of blockchain, because each node holds a record of
all transaction data, so there is no need for a central authority. This relief the failure of the
single point of vulnerability. In the blockchain network, there is no single authority and no
service fees, and the consensus algorithms are used to maintain the data consistency.
• Consensus: Consensus algorithms maintain the consistency of data within the blockchain
and keep incorrect or false transactions away from the blockchain network [23]. All nodes
must agree by executing the standard consensus algorithms to ensure the integrity of trans-
action data. Moreover, there must be an assertion between every member, before one can
execute the transaction, only then the transaction should be valid. This procedure is called
a consensus [24, 25].
• Anonymity: In the blockchain, every user can interact with a created address. The system
will not disclose the user’s actual details; however, the members can view the encoded trans-
action details.
• Traceable: The blockchain is time-stamped and digitally signed, which implies that the as-
sociation can follow back to an explicit time for every transaction and further distinguish
the relating party on the blockchain [26]. Consequently, each block is permanently and
unquestionably connected to the past block [27].
4 RELATED WORK
This segment presents research works relating to traditional cloud computing techniques that
proved their significant improvement toward increasing security and academic studies on the
blockchain and cloud computing.
4.1 Traditional Cloud Computing Techniques

Cloud storage is a kind of Internet technology for sharing resources with IT-related capabilities,
and it is important to either enterprises or individual users. Traditional security strategies mainly
focus on information encryption [28, 38], integrity checking [28–34, 36], data deduplication [30,
39, 40], user revocation [35], data storage [38], data auditing [37], and so on. While Information
and Communications Technology (ICT) and cloud services progressed, numerous scientific work
has been dedicated to increasing the performance and safety of the data. To protect user data
stored on the cloud, a symmetric cryptographic scheme is used with encrypted bloom filters to al-
low the user to recognize unauthorized modifications in the outsourced data [28]. In 2018, Yunxue
Yan et al. [29] developed a protection scheme to enhance the security of signature information for
user data. In [30], the authors proposed an integrity assurance algorithm using a standard storage
template for various control methods. Tags for validation and process generating proofs relied on
the index pointers. In References [31–34], the authors introduced a novel and efficient integrity
verification technique by using various approaches like Merkle hash tree, proof of storage, and
paillier homomorphic cryptography method, respectively. In References [35, 37], the authors il-
lustrated a safe group user revocation method with an effective public integrity audit scheme. It
facilitated public monitoring and the effective removal of users. Yibin Li et al. [38] concentrated
on the problems of cloud operator misuse concerns aimed to prevent the cloud user’s data re-
lease from cloud servers. Pooranian et al. [39] proposed a RAndom REsponse (RARE) method
that removed the cloud storage facilities deduplication response side channel and retained the use
of deduplication simultaneously. Chia-Mu Yu et al. [40] proposed a zero-knowledge deduplica-
tion response as a side-channel shield that is based on a zero-knowledge cross-user deduplication
response structure. Although these schemes provide secure storage, integrity checking, efficient
user revocation, and data duplication removal, there are still some problems existing in the sys-
tems, such as centralized data storage that severely harms physical server security and the need
for trusted third-party, which are nightmares for the privacy of users’ data. It has been observed
that most methods consider only static data sets and does not apply to a large volume of data.
The issues of cloud storage data security are not resolved through some techniques. Therefore, it
seems very meaningful to understand the blockchain-based solutions for cloud storage known so
far and to carry out investigations to conclude.
4.2 Blockchain and Cloud Computing Studies

A lot of new technologies and frameworks have been introduced with the existing keen interest in
blockchain technology. Numerous review articles were published to demonstrate the advantages
of blockchain for existing applications. Examples of these studies include the blockchain tech-
nology for business applications [41, 42], e-governance [43], healthcare [44–46], security [47–48,
52, 73], sharding [49], cloud exchange [50], edge computing [51], and so on. Certain studies dealt
with blockchain obstacles, prospects, and plans for the future. For example, References [47, 52,
53] address security challenges and opportunities in the blockchains. The research in [81] pro-
vides a detailed overview of privacy and security concerns in cloud computing, covering potential
threats and detection methods based on blockchain. Authors address in References [45, 46] the
use of blockchain technology in the healthcare and medical fields. Reference [49] presents key
concepts of various sharding mechanism focused on blockchain technology. In Reference [50],
the authors address issues in terms of safety, security, and transaction processing regarding the
use of blockchain for cloud exchange. Moreover, Reference [51] is dedicated to blockchains for
edge computing systems and their potential uses. All the earlier studies under consideration dis-
cuss the safety pattern in cloud storage and plan to incorporate blockchain technology in different
environments. This article investigates the use of blockchain technology for cloud storage as a
whole without being specific to particular applications, thus addressing its current trends, clas-
sifications, and open issues that have not been discussed in the prior surveys. We are aiming to
provide a detailed overview of the usage of blockchain technology in cloud computing. To the best
of our understanding, our research surpasses all the current studies more systematically in terms
of the core principle of blockchain technology for cloud storage.
Fig. 5. Blockchain methods selected in this SLR.
5 EXISTING TECHNIQUES OF BLOCKCHAIN FOR CLOUD STORAGE

This area gives the details of the blockchain methods selected in this SLR. Based on selected studies,
we arranged the blockchain techniques utilized for cloud storage as follows:
• Cryptography Technique (CT)
• Data Deduplication Scheme (DDS)
• Data Integrity Checking Technique (DIC)
• Storage Efficiency Technique (SET)
• Bitcoin Technology (BT)
• Blockchain-based Cloud Storage (BCS)
In Figure 5, we have used the following abbreviations to represent methods selected in this SLR:
FAC, Fine-Grained Access control; DA, Data Auditing; SE, Searchable Encryption; VC, Verifiable
Computation; RDD, Reliable Distributed Deduplication; SDD, Secure Data Deduplication; BT, Bit-
coin Transaction; NG, Non-repudiation Guarantee; MT, Merkle Tree; ET, Ethereum Technology;
HF, Hyperledger Fabric; HT, Hash Technology; DS, Digital Signature; PW, Proof of Work; PM,
Payment Method; DS, Deletion Scheme; ACS, Access Control System; ES, Encryption Scheme.
5.1 Blockchain-based Cryptographic Technique for Cloud Storage Service

The framework allows the users to transfer their information in encoded form, distribute the infor-
mation substance to cloud hubs, and ensure the accessibility of information using cryptographic
procedures [55].
The structure of cryptography storage contains three parts, as shown in Figure 6.
• Data Processor (DP): Processing of information before sending it to the cloud.
• Data Verifier (DV): Verification of the damaged information stored in the cloud.
• Token Generator (TG): For saving the documents of the clients on the cloud, the token
generator generates the token for each user.
Figure 6 represents: (1) Master “y” information processor sets the information before sending it
to the cloud; (2) Master “x” needs the permission of Master “y” for scanning a keyword; (3) Master
Fig. 6. The architecture of cryptographic cloud storage.
“y” generates a token for a keyword and send it back to Master “x”; (4) Master x receives the token
and send it to the cloud; (5) To locate the appropriate encoded documents, the cloud utilizes the
token and send the resultant documents back to Master x. (?) At any time, Master y’s data verifier
can confirm the integrity of the information.
5.2 Blockchain-based Data Deduplication Scheme for Cloud Storage Service

The data deduplication scheme is used to eliminate the superfluous data and to optimize the storage
space in the cloud. Additionally, this technique only retains one copy of the indistinguishable
information to optimize storage capacity. Thus, it can manage data efficiency and save the cost of
physical devices [56], but there is a chance of increasing data reliability problem. Thus, the files
are distributed to different servers using a deduplication approach, and the storage information
is recorded on the blockchain. The protection of system confidentiality and data integrity can
be achieved by combining the data deduplication scheme with the blockchain technique. Also, it
is well-suited for distributed storage systems. The blockchain network should be joined by CSP
and data owner as a node for related services. Every duplication and transaction data should be
documented on blockchain for ensuring the data authenticity [57]. The data deduplication method
is classified based on Data unit, Location, and Disk placement [58].
The deduplication process is categorized into three methods based on where the data are pro-
cessed: data unit deduplication, location deduplication, and disk placement deduplication. The
classification of deduplication is illustrated in Figure 7. The data unit deduplication is bifurcated
further into file-level and chunk level deduplication. The file deduplication uses the unique hash
values for comparing the two files. If the hash values are identical, then only one copy is stored.
In deduplication at the chunk level, the file is split into fixed or variable length blocks and then
check for the duplicate content. Location-based deduplication is categorized into source and tar-
get deduplication process. The target deduplication process is worked at the side of a receiver
after the client transmits the files, and it also rejects the additional data. Without influencing the
client’s operation, the deduplication process is done by the storage device. The process of dedupli-
cation is hidden from users. Before transmitting the data, the source deduplication process is done.
This deduplication has the advantage of network traffic bandwidth, because it utilized the client’s
Fig. 7. Classification of deduplication.
resources. The disk-level deduplication is further divided into two parts; these are forward refer-
ence deduplication and backward reference deduplication.
5.3 Blockchain-based Data Integrity Checking Technique for Cloud Storage Service
The decentralized data integrity checking is enabled by a blockchain-based structure for cloud
storage services. The integrity checking method is mostly dependent on three components. They
are the blockchain, the Cloud Storage Service Provider (CSS), to which the information is out-
sourced and the data user. Data Integrity Service (DIS) is built on the structure of the blockchain.
The blockchain client should be started initially on nodes when the DIS is needed [59]. Blockchain
can use Merkle trees for data integrity verification. This comprises two phases: the pre-processing
stage and the validation phase.
• Pre-processing phase: Initially, the data are sliced by the data consumer to form different
shards, and these shards are then used for constructing a hash Merkle tree. Then, the con-
sumer and CSS will approve the hash Merkle trees, and the consumer stores the root of
this hash tree. The user data and public Merkle trees are uploaded on CSS. CSS sends the
address of the stored user’s data to the user.
• Verification phase: CSS receives a challenge number from the client, and it is used to select
shards to check. The hash function is used based on challenge number and shard to cal-
culate a hash digest. CSS forward digest and the equivalent are supporting statistics to the
blockchain. The smart contract calculates a fresh hash root and compares the hash roots.
The data integrity will be assured when the hash roots are equal. If not, then data integrity
has been degraded. Finally, the verified output is sent to the client by the blockchain [60].
5.4 Storage Efficiency Technique for Cloud-based Design

With the rapid increment of cloud computing, the NoSQL database is the best choice for saving
the information into the cloud. The NoSQL databases are stored and handled by platforms like
MongoDB and Hadoop, Graph Databases, Column-oriented DBs, Document DBs, and Key-value
stores [61]. The cloud stored data in a simple text format; hence, it is a very inefficient way of
storing data. This makes some issues in the cloud and further raises the overhead of operating
system while storing the data. To manage huge volumes of data, the MapReduce method is used,
but it is not suitable for a relational database management system [62]. BigchainDB is a masterless,
scalable, decentralized database of cloud data storage. BigchainDB is incorporated on top of a
NoSQL RethinkDB database as an additional layer, which is efficient storage for cloud storage. It
utilizes a database underlying and provides blockchain-like functionalities such as hashed blocks,
transactions, voting, and record immutability [63].
5.5 Redundant Array of Cloud Storage (RACS)

For distributing the data and protecting the network architecture, RACS is used. RACS is per-
formed between the customer and various data repositories [64]. It showed parallel communica-
tion with multiple proxies in a distributed manner. It can likewise be kept running on various
intermediaries with a similar arrangement of the vault utilizing strategies. This strategy is primar-
ily acquainted with maintaining a strategic distance from seller secure and with decreasing the
expense of exchanging suppliers. The supplier disappointments are endured. The system is basic
and straightforward. Since all information must go through a RACS intermediary either to encode
or to decipher, a solitary intermediary could without much of a stretch turn into a bottleneck [65].
The users can utilize blockchain-based secured cloud storage architecture [66], where they would
split their documents into several chunks of data and randomly upload those chunks of data to the
P2P network offering free storage capacity.
5.6 Blockchain-based Cloud Storage Access Control System

Blockchain technology may be utilized to provide secure access control to the information col-
lected in an untrustworthy cloud environment. The untrusted cloud storage environment needs
the technique to protect the shared data. Blockchain-based access control provides a method using
the attribute-based encryption scheme with dynamic attributes for user access [67]. Using the de-
centralized ledger technology, blockchain keeps the unchanged log for all relevant security events,
like revocation, key generation, access policy appointment, and access request.
A blockchain-based access control technique is developed in Reference [68]. Access control is
inclusive of identifying, authenticating, and authorizing procedures. It ascertains the state of being
responsible wherein client access can be tracked for which specific activity in a framework. The
introduced framework allows the clients to get to Electronic Health Record (EHR) from the data
pools that are shared utilizing blockchain in the wake of checking their cryptographic keys as well
as their identity. To accomplish the client’s authentication, validation based on identity is adopted.
Banning the malevolent imitation of roles and adaptability, which effectively allows organizations
to participate and consumers from regulating their responsibilities. To guarantee secure access to
sensitive information, creating a smart contract-based access control mechanism is intended to
be reliable, flexible, and useful. The Smart Contract-based Role-based Access Control (RBAC-SC)
utilizes blockchain and smart contracts as versatile systems to portray the relationship of trust
that is crucial within the RBAC and for the execution of authenticating the challenge-response
process, which will verify the user’s possession of positions [69].
5.7 Blockchain-Enabled Payment System for Cloud

The security attacks on the present payment framework are increasing due to its complexity and
scattered nature of the transaction facilitators. A client expecting to exchange cash will pay a
yearly participation expense to get the card and utilize it to buy merchandise or use the services.
The banks of the client and the dealer associate with one another to settle the charge expect-
ing to utilize the card obtained from the bank and used it in buying the merchandise and enter-
prises. A simplified transaction is necessary as more individuals use cell phones to buy service or
Fig. 8. The process of a payment system.
merchandise [70]. Concerning the advantages of the execution of a customer transaction as a

P2P transaction utilizing blockchain, the exchange is not just dependable and unquestionable yet
additionally cost-effective, since there are no outsiders included. Also, the transaction utilizing
blockchain could be finished quickly as the physical distance does not influence the transaction,
while regular transactions over the border could be slow. In contrast, traditional, centrally managed
transactions are defenseless against significant information leakage during database management
as all valuable information is handled within the central server. Conversely, it is exceptionally hard
for attacking the transactions based on blockchain, since all of the vital information is conveyed,
and an assailant must hack and change 51% of the shared P2P. Outsourcing services generally in-
volve internet security and payment problems as an appealing business model for cloud computing.
Mistrust among customers and outsourcing providers may significantly hinder the acceptance of
wide-ranging cloud services. Some present payment techniques, however, only take into consid-
eration an outsourcing provider and relying on the trusted third party. For ensuring a safe and fair
payment service without a trusted party, a blockchain-based online payment method is needed for
outsourcing cloud computing services [72].
5.8 Blockchain-based Cloud Storage Data Deletion Scheme

The cloud server maintains the users’ information to reduce the overhead of saving, updating, and
deleting data. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate the security feature while deleting, storing,
and updating the cloud data. Recently, several research works [73] have been carried out to delete
the desired selected data safely. Most of the available techniques, however, can be represented
using the same “one-bit-return” protocol procedure: The cloud server removes the data and re-
verses the one-bit result. The owner of the information must trust the outcome, because the owner
cannot verify it. Consequently, the deletion scheme based on the blockchain can increase trans-
parency in the deletion operation. The data owner may test the deletion result irrespective of how
malevolently the cloud server behaves. Also, the safe deletion technique can obtain public vali-
dation without any third party with the application of blockchain [73]. Even though deleting the
data securely has been hypothetically explained; however, the proposed plans still have two char-
acteristic constraints. The majority of the proposed plans with overwriting strategy are unable to
support verification. In such protocols, the owner of the information must accept the framework
of managing the data, since they cannot check the consequence of data deletion. Despite a few
schemes verifying, they have to introduce a third party that can be trusted. The other innate con-
straints are that the proposed conventions are not effective in the case of practical applications.
It is considerable for designing secure information deletion plans to erase information effectively
and permanently [74].
5.9 Blockchain-based Bitcoin Technology for Cloud Storage

Bitcoin is known as the digital currency, which relies on the P2P payment platform that has been
developed as open-source software. The virtual currency is transferred and established within the
cryptographic links, and bitcoin is also known as cryptocurrency [75]. Bitcoin brought about a
revolution, since it gave a technique for P2P transactions without the requirement for interme-
diate bodies like the banks. The bitcoin dependent on the blockchain relies on the cryptographic
algorithms that are highly secure and sophisticated P2P techniques that form the fundamentals
of the democratically sustained and distributed public ledger of transactions. The transactions are
validated, and a permanent record is maintained by bitcoin while ensuring that the identity-related
user data is kept incognito [76]. Accordingly, by applying Blockchain or comparative digital cur-
rency methods, the clients neither require confiding in one another nor require an intermediator;
instead, the trust is shown inside the decentralized system framework itself.
5.10 Searching Process in Blockchain-based Cloud Storage

Conventional cloud storage depends on only great-sized storage providers, who go about as third
parties that can be trusted for transferring and storing data. This model represents various issues,
including information accessibility, high operational expense, and information security. Various
studies have presented a framework that influences blockchain technology for providing protected
distributed data storage along with the service of keyword searches. The framework permits the
customer to transfer the information in an encoded manner, transfers the content of data to cloud
servers, and guarantees information accessibility utilizing cryptographic strategies [77]. It addi-
tionally gives the owner of the data the ability to give authorization for others to search on the
information. Also, the system allows scanning for private keywords over encoded data collection
[78].
5.11 Auditing Scheme in Blockchain-based Cloud Storage

With the fast improvement of cloud computing, an expanding number of companies and people
share and store the information on untrusted clouds. Accordingly, the auditing of shared infor-
mation has become a major issue in cloud storage, pulling scientific consideration. An open audit
(public audit) shared cloud storage information protocol using blockchain and Rank-based Merkle
AVL tree (RB-MHT) to achieve privacy conservation and batch auditing to preserve the protec-
tion of the updated blockchain record in the scheme [79]. The main thing that the TPA needs
for checking the data evidence is the group manager’s public key. Furthermore, the community
manager cannot change the changed records discretionarily. The Performance Evaluation indicates
the proposed plan is safe and effective.
A smart and decentralized public auditing plan for cloud storage was proposed in Reference
[80]. By bringing the blockchain framework into the plan eliminated the TPA in the framework
model. Stability and reliability are enhanced because of the completely decentralized development.
Likewise, they developed an automatic auditing protocol along with the smart contract, which can
check periodically the integrity of the data in the cloud instead of the owner of the data. Hence
this ensures that the data owner is rid of the periodic verification burden. Since every single, smart
contract is executed and stored by all nodes in the system, the audit results cannot be altered.
5.12 Security and Privacy Issues in Blockchain-based Cloud Storage

A blockchain discarded the server to ban the central authority’s association and enabled transac-
tions by members who saved the exchange documents collectively and finally endorsed transac-
tions using the P2P network technique. The blockchain has a shared framework and makes use of
peer network and peer resource computation. Specialized estimates, for example, Proof of Work
(PoW) and Proof of Storage (PoS), were implemented for improving blockchain security. Even
though blockchain security is continuously improving, problems have continued to be accounted
for, and there are diverse safety assessments. An intruder may make various attempts to access the
personal keys stored on the client’s device or cell phone. Investigations are underway on using a
secure token or storing it securely to protect the personal key. In Reference [81], the authors dis-
cussed the advancement of blockchain and related technologies and analyzed the research trend to
identify more areas of study. The use of blockchain in the cloud computing environment should be
considered for specific current problems. Even now, Blockchain contributes to numerous issues,
such as transaction security, wallet and programming, and various investigations have been un-
dertaken to resolve these issues. When using blockchain in the cloud computing environment, the
anonymity of the client data should be assured, and the client data should be completely erased
when the software is deleted. The client data can be inferred from the rest of the data in case the
client data is not deleted yet slightly left behind. It appears that efficiency assessments are addi-
tionally required alongside protection, given the environments in which large amounts of data are
transmitted.
5.13 Encryption Methods Used in Blockchain-based Cloud Storage

Cloud computing has pulled in an expanding number of people and companies to outsource their
information to third-party platforms for boundless storage and computing capacities upon request
with convenience and inexpensiveness. Since cloud servers cannot be trusted and the information
security of clients, it is important to encode the information before it is outsourced to clouds. But,
the immediate utilization of conventional encryption advancements denies clients of searchability
and, in this way, brings about a poor client experience. To safeguard this search service, accessible
encoding advancements have been created in two delegate settings, including the settings of public
keys and symmetric keys [82].
5.14 Blockchain Technology for Off-Chain Cloud Storage

Current-age corporations have handled information as on-chain or off-chain storage structures for
blockchain-based solutions. This could be applied as data storage in a blockchain infrastructure
that is private or publicly available. Off-chain does not necessarily mean “not at the ledger,” it sim-
ply means it’s not on a database that is open to the public. Just as any company might not maintain
the information in a publicly accessible repository or archive, off-chain management ensures the
information is not available to the general public [83]. Off-chain transfers are of enormous value,
since they have improved safety and are not constrained by the transactional speed restrictions.
In a traditional on-chain transaction, each transfer would have to be validated by all peers in the
network before the transfer is labelled as complete, which keeps it very slow. In contrast, in an
off-chain transfer, not all peers need to wait for the transfer to be verified before it is labelled as
successful or complete.
Because off-chain platforms are not linked to the public internet, it is more protected, since
it is very close to the protection that could achieve by deploying a server or software in the in-
tranet as opposed to the internet. The on-chain transaction includes a lot of members checking
transfers, and all participants’ validation signatures have to be an exact match to be considered
valid for that transaction. Whereas the details of each exchange are released for inspection on the
public blockchain so that they are not altered or turned back, this may take longer than for off-
chain transactions. Also, there is a very probable possibility for the payment costs to be costly, as
participants can choose the off-chain scheme [84].
In an article published by IBM [85], off-chain transactions deal with “values outside of the
Blockchain that can be finished using a variety of methods.” Both sides must concur on the transfer,
and then another party comes in to verify the transaction. Because non-transaction information
such as images, agreements, PDFs, and private data are not recommended to be stored in the main
blockchain database, some kind of off-chain or sideDB space is required. A hash or signature will
be produced for the off-chain object, and that is what is kept in the blockchain database. The in-
dividual object is stored either in the cloud, on-premises, or in a near-cloud storage network. The
needed capacity for off-chain data is expected to exceed storage requirements for the blockchain
database. Any kind of off-chain transaction is pretty fast and immediate, without the higher on-
chain transaction fees.
The various applications of blockchain technology for cloud storage and their properties are
summarized in Tables 1 and 2. Removal of duplicate data on the cloud, storage of cloud data using
blockchain, maintaining the security of the cloud data, encryption methods, security and privacy
issues, safe deletion of data, secure access control mechanism, off-chain cloud storage, and fair
payment method utilized for cloud services using blockchain technology are presented in these
tables.
6 REAL PROJECTS: BLOCKCHAIN-BASED DISTRIBUTED CLOUD

STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES
In this section, we explore and analyze some of the popular distributed storage platforms and
highlight the main contributions. Marketplaces for cloud storage make disk space a commodity.
They are the intermediary with those who want to store information and providers who are willing
to store data for them. Companies such as Maidsafe, Storj, File Coin, and Sia all act as marketplaces.
They offer quicker, simpler, and safer storage than DropBox, Amazon, or Google choices. Figure 9
shows the various categories for analyzing distributed cloud storage technologies.
6.1 MaidSafe
The SAFE (Secure Access For Everyone) Network is a P2P decentralized network of data and com-
munications built by MaidSafe.net. The framework supports all existing centralized web applica-
tions and data centers with a secure and confidential network of additional computing resources
for their users. SAFE Network is a distributed, independent data storage and communications net-
work [97]. The performance, reliability, privacy, and security of the network data are incredibly
high. The current server-client-based internet offers information possession to whoever manages
the servers, rather than to the data-creating people. The following categories are selected to ana-
lyze the network.
Table 1. Applications of Blockchain Technology for Cloud Storage
Authors Finding
Hoang Giang Do Presented a BlockDS system for providing a reliable distributed storage service for
et al. [55] searching keywords using blockchain technology.
Jingyi Li et al. [56] Suggested a deduplication scheme that allocates files to multiple servers and documents
blockchain storage information. They describe smart contract-based protocols to ensure
secure deduplication without central authority participants.
Bin Liu et al. [59] Suggested a framework for integrity service based on blockchain. This framework pro-
vides a more trustworthy verification of the integrity of data for both consumers and
data holders without depending on a trusted party.
Dongdong Yue In P2P cloud storage, a blockchain-based method for verifying data integrity is intro-
et al. [60] duced to make the verification process more effective and open. In this context, the
Merkle tree is presented to identify data integrity and evaluate performance and relia-
bility under various Merkle tree structures.
Josef Gattermayer Proposed a multi-level system for clusters dependent on cryptocurrency principles to
et al. [63] obtain a masterless reputation rating throughout the cluster.
Jiaxing Li et al. [66] Proposed a blockchain-based system for distributed cloud storage that would allow cus-
tomers to divide their documents into encrypted chunks of information and upload
them randomly to a peer-to-peer network.
Ilya Sukhodolskiy Developed a model for controlling the access depending on blockchain, stored data in
et al. [67] untrustworthy space, and implemented attribute encryption based on Ethereum smart
contracts.
Jason Paul Cruz An RBAC-SC was introduced to implement a trans-organizational framework for RBAC.
et al. [69] Safe RBAC method (users cannot disguise roles and only allowed users must perform
tasks), customer-oriented method (customers can report their duties to any agency),
testable (everyone can verify the position of the user).
Yinghui Zhang Introduced a BCPay, a cloud computing service payment system focused on blockchain.
et al. [72] This system ensures that without any trusted party, the outsourcing services are paid
safely and reasonably.
Changsong Yanga Build a novel, data deletion scheme based on blockchain. If the server may not honestly
et al. [73] delete the information, then this scheme allows the data owner to identify the cloud
server’s malevolent operation.
Sharma et al. [86] The authors developed a novel architecture based on a decentralized blockchain cloud
with an activated SDN controller at the end of the network to fulfill the essential design
principles.
Hasan et al. [87] Developed an effective method to use blockchain and IFPS (InterPlanetary File System)
to store provenance information. Users were also able to check the validity of their
results.
Manzoor et al. [88] This study proposes a blockchain-based trading platform combined with a pairing free
proxy re-encoding scheme to transfer sensor data to the user securely.
Zhang et al. [89] Development of a certificate less public validation technique against the procrastinat-
ing auditor, namely, CPVPA, using on-chain currencies. Here, the verification process
conducted is combined with the on-chain blockchain currency payment.
Wang et al. [90] Developed a decentralized scheme for securing cloud storage using access control. The
conventional encryption algorithm based on attributes was modified by the introduc-
tion of Ethereum’s smart contract technique. The distribution key is not reliant on the
central authority, thus preventing the attacks on the central authority.
Zhang et al. [91] A secure technique of Public-key encryption with an option to search for keywords re-
ferred to as SEPSE against keyword guessing attacks (KGA) is developed. In this scheme,
users can encrypt keywords through a threshold with the help of specific key servers.
(Continued)
Table 1. Continued
Authors Finding
Tosh et al. [92] A BlockCloud has been developed for the cloud computing framework, a blockchain-
enabled information provenance architecture. Also, a PoS consensus mechanism was
presented for BlockCloud to lessen the overhead of computational necessities that the
conventional PoW consensus requires.
Chen et al. [93] They developed a framework for storing medical data by using blockchain and cloud
storage technologies so that the data could be stored and shared safely.
Cao et al. [94] A secure eHealth framework assisted by the cloud referred to as TP-EHR, which ensured
the integrity, correctness, and confidentiality of outsourced EHRs without the introduc-
tion of a trusted entity was developed. The EHR generated by a doctor during the period
of treatment was unified into the transaction of currencies based on blockchain. This
technique employed a key agreement based on a user-friendly password for establish-
ing channels among the doctors and the patients that are safe and can prevent attacks
of guessing passwords without the need for any extra investments.
Wang et al. [95] A system that combined the attribute-based encryption (ABE), Ethereum blockchain,
and decentralized storage system IPFS. The data holder can transmit the secret key
to users and encrypt the shared information by specifying the access policy and the
technique that has been done with fine-grained data access control.
Wang et al. [79] Developed protocol for cloud storage by utilizing blockchain and Rank-based Merkle
AVL tree (RB-MHT) to accomplish preservation of privacy and batch auditing for main-
taining the security of the modified record in the scheme based on blockchain.
Yu et al. [80] Developed a smart and decentralized public auditing plan for cloud storage, which elim-
inated the requirement TPA for auditing.
Chen et al. [96] Suggested a performance-driven, auction-based reward system based on a blockchain
consortium that ensures belief for both on-chain and off-chain information. Authors
implemented a consortium that used as a distributed hyperledger to tackle on-chain
data protection. Using an information performance-driven auction system, the assessed
data performance used to maintain trust in off-chain data.
Distributed Storage: SAFE network resources are never higher than 1 MB each. Clients oper-
ating with files greater than 1 MB would then have their data broken into 1 MB chunks, which will
then be spread around a network. This specifies that a standard file consists of several parts: chunks
that are individual portions of 1 MB after breaking the file and a datamap that stores each portion
of the file’s identifier. The client maintains a datamap record of the resource identifier. Therefore,
the entire file can be retrieved by first retrieving the particular resource (i.e., the datamap) even
though it is distributed over many individual resources.
Consensus: Utilizing a method called Proof of Resource (POR), the system can validate in a
mathematically verifiable manner which and what provides the resource. It is achieved by the
network trying to save and access chunks of data on/from its nodes. A node’s ability to perform
such activities will be calculated by a combination of its CPU power, availability of bandwidth,
unused storage space, and online time.
6.2 Sia: Distributed, Blockchain-based Cloud Storage

Sia, a decentralized-storage network. Sia allows for the creation of peer storage contracts [98].
Contracts are treaties between a space supplier and their customer, defining what information will
be contained and at what cost. Contracts are held in a blockchain, which makes them auditable
publicly. Sia provides tenants with access to distributed cloud storage services to leverage cheaper,
faster ways of using distribution centers accessible to anyone and are not regulated by a single
authoritative source. Siacoin is based on a separate blockchain from Sia, and there are agreements
between a storage renter and a supplier [99]. The selected categories are explained below.
Table 2. Strengths of Works on Blockchain Technology for Cloud Storage
Blockchain-based
Access
Work Confidentiality Integrity Authentication Searching Auditing distributed cloud
Control
data storage
[55]
[56]
[59]
[60]
[63]
[66]
[67]
[69]
[72]
[73]
[86]
[87]
[88]
[89]
[90]
[91]
[92]
[93]
[94]
[95]
[79]
[80]
Confidentiality: -> privacy of information achieves through encryption and data access management.
Integrity: -> to manage unauthorized manipulation of data.
Authentication: -> to identify the valid user.
Access Control: -> to identify permission to use a resource.
Searching: -> process of locating data on the cloud.
Auditing: -> examination of records to validate data security.
Blockchain-based cloud storage: -> decentralized storage of cloud data without trusted parties.
Distributed Database: Upon uploading, the Sia program divides files into 30 parts, each tar-
geted towards distribution to hosts worldwide. This distribution means no one host serves a single
failure point and increases overall network uptime and redundancy.
Encryption: Every section of the file is encrypted before entering a renter’s machine. It means
that only authenticated pieces of user data are stored in hosts. It is different from traditional cloud
storage services like Amazon, which does not opt to encrypt user data. Sia utilizes the Twofish
algorithm, an open-source and secure encryption standard [115].
Smart Contract: The renters form file contracts with hosts using the Sia blockchain. These
contracts set rates, expectations on uptime, and other aspects of the renters-hosts partnership.
The smart contract enables to create cryptographic Service-Level Agreements (SLAs), which are
collected on the Sia blockchain. Since the network automatically enforces file contracts, Sia does
not need intermediaries or trusted third parties.
Payment Method: Renters and hosts both use Siacoin, a special crypto-currency developed
on the blockchain of Sia. Renters utilize Siacoin to purchase storage space from hosts, while hosts
spend Siacoin as collateral in each file contract. After a file contract, the host must show that he/she
Fig. 9. Identified categories for analyzing distributed technologies.
is saving the data for the renter. It is called proof of storage if the proof of storage appears on the
blockchain within a given time, the host will be paid. If not, then the host will be penalized.
6.3 Storj
The Storj network is a reliable store of objects that encodes, fragments, and disperses data for
storage to nodes worldwide. Information is kept and delivered in a way intended to prevent viola-
tions. The platform that underlies Storj is a peer-to-peer, implementable space contract. It is a way
for two entities (or computers) to decide to trade a certain amount of storage for money without
knowing each other. They call the machine-selling space the “farmer,” and the computer-buying
space, the “renter.” Storj implements encryption on the client-side, which means that only the
person who uploads the file has access to that. Sharding is used for the splitting of data between
several nodes [100]. For decentralized networks, this provides stability, preserving connectivity
even when nodes fall off the network. Also, if a network host could decrypt a file, then they would
have only one small piece. Hosts are “audited” continuously with an automated algorithm that
verifies that they have the documents that they claim to have.
Distributed Hash Table (DHT): A DHT is simply a means of transforming a bunch of self-
organized nodes into a functional web. The DHT enables farmers and tenants to transmit their
contract offers to a large node community rather than having a central server register each node
and manage all contracts.
Contracts and Audits: A fixed-term contract. Over this period, the renter keeps an eye that
the farmer is still available. The farmer responds with encoded evidence that the file is still in
them. The renter ends up paying the farmer for every proof they get and verify. This method of
challenge-> evidence-> payment is called an “audit,” since the renter audits the farmer’s storage.
6.4 Swarm: Serverless Hosting Incentivized Peer-to-Peer Storage

and Content Distribution
Swarm is a decentralized storage network and content delivery tool, the ethereum web3 stack’s
native base layer service. Swarm’s main objective is to provide the public record of Ethereum with
a sufficiently decentralized and robust archive, in particular, to store and distribute Decentralized
Web Applications (dapps) code and data and blockchain data. From an economic perspective,
it allows users to pool their storage and bandwidth resources to provide those utilities to all
members of the network. At the same time, Ethereum encourages them to do so. Swarm [101]
offers a peer-to-peer application and service solution that is fault-tolerant, surveillance-resistant,
and auto-sustaining and facilitates transaction exchange resources. The following selected
categories are summarized below.
Distributed Database: Uploading data comprises of posting information at local Swarm node,
followed by “synchronizing” local Swarm node to the resulting chunks of data with their peers in
the network. In the meantime, downloading content comprises of local Swarm node querying the
appropriate chunks of data for its peers in the network and then reconstructing the information
locally.
Encryption: The encryption feature is intended to protect the data and make the shredded
information hard to read for any Swarm node handling. To encrypt and decrypt the content, Swarm
uses counter mode encryption. When uploading content to Swarm, the uploaded data is broken
down into 4 KB chunks. These chunks are all encoded with a separate encryption key created at
random.
6.5 Filecoin
Filecoin is a distributed platform [102] that transforms the cloud storage over an algorithmic sector.
The platform executes on a blockchain with a proprietary token (also called as “Filecoin”), which
miners are obtaining by supplying space for storage to clients. Instead, customers are spending
Filecoin employing miners to save or circulate data. Filecoin functions as a reward layer on top of
IPFS [103] that can provide any data storage infrastructure.
Decentralized Storage Network (DSN): Filecoin DSN is a distributed storage system that
can be audited, publicly validated, and incentively built. Customers pay a network of miners for
information storage and retrieval; in return for fees, miners provide disk space and bandwidth.
DSNs cumulative repository provided by numerous individual space suppliers and self-contained,
providing customers with data storage and access.
Consensus: Storage providers have to persuade their customers in the Filecoin protocol that
they saved the information they were paying to store; in practice, storage providers must create
Proofs-of-Storage (PoS) that the blockchain network (or the customers themselves) verifies. Proof-
of-Replication (PoRep) is a novel Proof-of-Storage that enables a server to persuade a customer
that certain information has been repeated into its own unique physical space. Proof-of-storage
systems allow customers to verify whether a storage provider is storing the outsourced data at the
moment of the challenge.
Smart Contract: Filecoin offers end-users with two core primitives: Get and Put. These
primitives enable customers to store information at their preferred price and to retrieve data from
the markets. In contrast, the primitives provide the standard use cases for Filecoin by promoting
smart contracts.
6.6 IPFS: InterPlanetary File System
The IPFS is a decentralized, peer-to-peer file network designed to link all computer nodes to the
same file system. IPFS integrates a distributed hash table, a block sharing reward, and a self-
certification namespace. IPFS has no single point of fault, and nodes do not need to believe each
other. IPFS is a P2P document sharing method aimed at radically changing the way information
is shared across the globe. IPFS [103] is made up of a variety of developments in communication
protocols and decentralized systems combined to create a file system like no other. Nodes can
store and share data with the Distributed Hash Table without central coordination. The following
categories are selected for analyzing the IPFS network.
Table 3. Building Blocks of Distributed Cloud Storage Technologies
MaidSafe Sia Storj Swarm Filecoin IPFS

Compensation Payment per Determined by a The platform Decentralized Peer-to-Peer Data blocks
Model storage space, documented currently pays storage network and storage bartered with
CPU, bandwidth, contract between storage providers content delivery marketplace reciprocating
and online time a storage renter and bills storage tool built on IPFS file sharing
and a provider renters monthly (Bitswap)[119]
Who Provides Users and Storage renter Storage renter (via Built-in incentive Storage File
Payments? generated tokens Storj) renter (via downloaders
Filecoin)
Blockchain None uses close Independent Sia Counterparty Web3 ethereum Blockchain None uses
Foundation groups blockchain bitcoin blockchain stack bitswap credit
consensus protocol
Target Use Encrypted cloud Encrypted cloud Encrypted cloud Messaging, data Encrypted File hosting,
cases and storage, web storage storage sharing, cloud storage versioning, web
Scenarios hosting, peer-to-peer hosting, and
streaming payment portals, content
and storage facilities distribution
Distributed Hash Table: A hash table is a set of information that gathers data as key/value sets.
Information is distributed over a network in DHT and organized effectively to allow fast access
and lookup between nodes. Decentralization, fault tolerance, and scalability are the key benefits
of DHTs.
Merkle DAG: A Merkle DAG is a combination of a Merkle tree and a Directed Acyclic Graph.
Merkle trees guarantee right, undamaged and unaltered data blocks exchanged over P2P networks.
This test is done by using hash algorithms to group data blocks. Hash is primarily a function that
takes up the input and generates a single alphanumeric (hash) sequence, which refers to that input.
Table 3 highlighted the basic building blocks of distributed technologies.
7 PROPERTIES OF BLOCKCHAIN FOR CLOUD STORAGE

• Immutable: (tamper-proof and permanent) the blockchain is generally a permanent record
for the transactions. Hence there is no provision to alter the block once added, thus creating
trust within the record of the transaction [104].
• Decentralized: The blockchain divides the data into little pieces and circulates them while
uploading it into the cloud server. A decentralized scheme offers a wide range of benefits
over the more traditional centralized schemes, including increased system reliability, scale,
and privacy. Hence, a file stored in the blockchain can be copied or accessed by any node
of the network. In a decentralization network, each cloud hosting server is accountable
for their cloud environment and could interact and collaborate via the blockchain network
with other providers. Blockchain technology is a distributed platform with a secure and dis-
tributed ledger for cloud manufacturing [105]. The blockchain is primarily a digital ledger
of transactions, since the computer has a complete copy of the ledger, so there is no result
in the data loss. Blockchain’s digital ledger technology retains integrity and confidentiality,
lowers the cost of computing, and enhances precision. Further, the transaction process is
secured, and no other third party can access the transaction using blockchain technology.
• Data Validation and Encryption: As secret commercial information is shared on cloud
servers, it is essential to implement an effective encryption method to encode outsourced
data. Blockchain encodes everything, and it is probably going to demonstrate that informa-
tion has not been altered. Furthermore, the users can check or verify the file signature that
has been changed or not while distributing the data. If someone tries to change or alter the
file, then the file signature will be invalid. No one can deny that blockchain offers a reliable
and secure solution with independent information confirmation.
• Reliable Service: Blockchain is a representative anonymity technology. Blockchain can
be upgraded to a reliable service in combination with the cloud computing environment
[107]. The blockchain makes it unfeasibly hard for attackers to obtain and split network
data from a storage process. The blockchain’s information is distributed, encrypted, and
cross-checked.
• Obscurity Empowering: The public blockchains have gotten the early features and ap-
provals for empowering obscurity, making private blockchains that confine access to spe-
cific clients. Regardless of this, we understand the advantages of a decentralized distributed
system. Yet, anybody getting to a private blockchain must validate their personality to ob-
tain entrance benefits, which tend to be limited to specific transactions, thereby increases
privacy protection [108].
• Automation through smart contracts: One of the most likely consequences of blockchain
technology is companies and individuals’ potential to cut off the intermediaries in terms of
information monitoring. However, one blockchain-related technology that would improve
how people make a trade is smart contracts, which can potentially automate all transactions
and exchanges.
• Verifiability: Blockchain not only stores data in a distributed and authenticated manner
but also offers a serial chain with a cryptographic hash of the block in each transaction for
the verification purpose. It connects the blocks, creating a decentralized and tamper-proof
transaction ledger.
8 INTEGRATING BLOCKCHAIN WITH CLOUD STORAGE-REQUIREMENTS

AND CHALLENGES
Blockchain integration with cloud [109] gathers massive virtualized service structures, including
hardware and software tools. Within the sector, these systems are referred to as “Infrastructure as a
Service” (IaaS), “Platform as a Service” (PaaS), and “Software as a Service” (SaaS). Cloud computing
services are supported in large data centers, sometimes referred to as “data farms.” Public clouds
offer limitless access to shared information and assets for a broad range of clients, yet there is no
assurance that clients’ information will be secured. Accessing the data and resources in private
clouds is confined, and there is a need for all the users to be validated with the help of strong au-
thentication and authorization processes. Generally, the enterprises are the owners of the private
cloud clusters and work under explicit cloud standards. Hybrid clouds appear to be a perfect model
for integrating numerous private clouds into a combined global framework. Such incorporation
is done via the public layer of the upper level. The main issue with that model is to reach an un-
derstanding among private cloud providers for operating under the unified public cloud standard.
A considerably more realistic situation is the “many cloud model,” in which the delegated private
cloud groups are connected by using the regular P2P organize (Figure 10).
It tends to be seen that an identical model is suitable for blockchain that was the primary expla-
nation behind attempting to incorporate the two conditions to improve the security approaches in
cloud environments. There are two principle strategies for integrating the cloud and blockchain
platforms.
• Utilizing cloud for the advancement of blockchain applications and aiding the coordination
with large business systems (private clouds) encourage replication, storage, and transac-
tional data access.
• Utilizing blockchain strategies for improving client security, managing the information, and
task in the cloud.
Fig. 10. The architecture of “Many Clouds” based on P2P.
For blockchain systems, the transaction number can be massive. The enormous amounts of
information created need flexible resources in information handling. Scalability and Flexibility
are perhaps the most critical functionalities within the cloud frameworks to provide dynamically
changing activities with on-demand cloud properties. Public clouds have the potential to deliver
a large-scale resource network that is open to consumers who pay only for those that are being
used. More often than not, private clouds should be configured to accommodate enormous datasets.
Cloud systems can effectively cover the physical area of knowledge from a security perspective.
Tuning experiments can be continuously performed with a negligible impact on deployed appli-
cations, which is crucial to the successful implementation of most blockchain algorithms. Any
blockchain system must accept data sovereignty rules and store and process the information only
in areas allowed by the guidelines. This means that the cloud service provider requires its cus-
tomers to have control over the areas in which their information is processed and stored. Another
significant problem with blockchain systems is the resilience of the architecture and the power
to a fault. This means that even a single node failure in the blockchain network should not af-
fect the entire framework’s work. In these instances, cloud services aid by replicating the stored
information and using different programming applications.
At last, using the algorithms of the blockchain might enhance the blockchain framework se-
curity. Within a centralized cloud environment, the program could be managed centrally with
information being stored on the local data server. Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service venture [110]
and iEx.ec venture [111] are ongoing instances of such effective coordination of the blockchain
with cloud stages.
The mapping of blockchain technology features with the safety services supplied to protect
cloud information is presented in Table 4. This table shows the case where we can take advantage
of the numerous blockchain features to ensure cloud data privacy, confidentiality, accessibility,
and transparency, thus increasing efficiency and accuracy.
9 SOME IMPORTANT INFERENCES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• Identity Management System: The identity management scheme is vital for CSP and cloud
computing users. The users adopt their identity to access their data in the cloud. Different
limitations of the identity administration system are recognized. Blockchain technology
provides a means to avoid this issue by providing a safe method without any trustworthy
Table 4. Mapping of Blockchain Characteristics with Security Services
Secure Transactions Safe Data Authentication Case Secure

Minimizing
Case (Digital Ledger Storage Case (Data validation and Blockchain
Error Case
Technology) (Decentralized) encryption) Solution
Integrity
Scalability
Confidentiality
Anonymity
Efficiency
Computation Cost
Privacy Protection
Availability
party. It could be used to create a blockchain-based identity system, making it possible for
entities to handle it, offering them more power over who has their data and how they access
it. It is, therefore, necessary to combine the decentralized blockchain principle with identity
control to create a digital ID that will function as a digital watermark that can be given to
any internet transaction [112].
• Secure Data Classification: Cloud computing data centers can store the data of distinctive
users. Based on the importance of information, the characterization of information provides
security in the cloud. Dependent on the category of data, this scheme offers various aspects
such as recurrence, refresh recurrence, and access by different users [113]. The security level
incorporates classification, encryption, respectability, capacity, and so on that are chosen to
depend on the type of information [114]. The classified information must be secured, since
it contains the most sensitive information. There is a definite need for a better solution
based on blockchain security methods to secure a customer’s classified information.
• Cloud Computing Service for Trust-based Secure Solution: The security domain for im-
plementation of the cloud computing administrations alongside in general security contem-
plations is a test. The cloud computing framework should be focused on the requirement
of a secure and trusted solution based on blockchain for cloud computing service [115].
Blockchain is a concept aimed at decentralization as a security measure, has the function
of creating a global index for all transactions that take place in a given network and makes
them unchangeable [116].
• Infrastructure Security: Concerning which party (customer or CSP) provides which pro-
tection methods there is a need for transparency. There is likely a need for agreement,
which gives the details about the security capacities and more noteworthy confirmation
over the CSP’s efforts and capabilities [117]. To address the issues, the identity administra-
tion system needs to be adopted in the current blockchain infrastructure for resolving the
interrelationship between service model, user, and system [118].
• Data Storage and Security: For the future of cloud computing, information security abil-
ities are significant. This allows us to save information in the cloud and be safe. For data
storage and security in the future, they combined with the present deficient encryption, key
administration capacities, and cryptographic research endeavors. For example, to restrain
the amount of information, the predicate encryption can be used to decode the information
in the cloud [119]. Cloud computing’s main significance is homomorphic encryption, which
involves the process of encoding information in the cloud. Therefore, the future business
Table 5. Mapping of Research Questions with the References
Research Question Reference

RQ1 [3, 4, 6, 7, 14, 15, 37, 38, 39, 61, 65, 109]
RQ2 [1, 8, 9, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 114, 115]
RQ3 [5, 13, 28, 29, 30, 40, 54, 57, 58, 106, 116, 117, 131]
RQ4 [2, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 52, 53, 59, 70, 71,
75, 76, 93, 96, 97, 98, 104, 107, 108, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 132, 133, 134, 135]
RQ5 [11, 12, 48, 49, 51, 55, 56, 60, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 72, 73, 74, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 90,
91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 105, 110, 111, 121]
RQ6 [48, 49, 50, 51, 60, 62, 63, 64, 66, 72, 74, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92,
93, 94, 95, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 112, 113, 118, 120, 127]
practicality of such abilities would be a huge advantage to cloud computing [120]. It needs
a block-based system with a secure boolean search for secure cloud storage.
• Security Management: There is a need to initiate standard organizations (e.g., World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Organization for
the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS)) and start new efforts for
the management protocols that interoperate with many clouds [121, 122]. To increase cloud
selection, the cloud management standards will be created and supported by the cloud ser-
vice provider, which encourages consistent interoperability crosswise over different clouds.
Like the customer/server period, guidelines will make a biological system of Independent
Software Vendors (ISVs) and specialist organizations that give clients decision, adaptability,
and greater agility by the method of computerization [123]. Also, there is a need for Soft-
ware Defined Networking (SDN)-based blockchain to adapt the security without the review
of the administrator automatically. It can alleviate specific problems such as adaptability,
effectiveness, accessibility, and safety [124].
• Privacy: Privacy is essential for the CSP to understand the main privacy laws to realize
the data transaction from one place to another. It is yet to solve the type of government
intercession or the formation of a worldwide security standard that will give reliability
crosswise controls. Specific gauges will offer to characterize the way organizations can use
cloud computing [125]. When cloud computing turns out to be more standard, the reports of
regular review increased by specific necessities around protection and security may review
concerned with the handling of information and its protection concerns [126]. Blockchain-
based data provenance architecture is necessary to ensure the processing of information in
cloud storage while at the same time, increasing privacy and accessibility [127].
Table 5 summarizes the details of the studies addressing each research question.
10 CONCLUSIONS
In this article, a systematic survey (2010–2019) of blockchain technology and cloud computing to
secure cloud storage has been assessed. Blockchain presents numerous guarantees for the future
of cloud data. The first one is that clients could be responsible for controlling their data and
the transactions in various areas. Hence, trust is built that the transactions are being executed
precisely as per the protocol directions, eliminating the trusted third-party requirement. This
idea can impact cloud data to discover a solution for managing and storing the information
appropriately on a P2P network. Blockchain innovation can be another piece of the encompassing
biological system of instruments that cloud data utilizes. In reality, it can assume a vital job
in security for authenticating and preventing access depending on the user’s requirements by
recording the histories of data access and legitimate utilization of encryption on the information.
A few challenges are still present, for example, accord models, the computational expenses of
mining blocks, and transaction validation. Additionally, Blockchain applications provide solutions
involving essential changes or complete replacement of existing frameworks. That is the reason
for the transaction not being quick and straightforward. In any case, we are still in the beginning
stages of the development of Blockchain, and these impediments will, in the end, be overcome,
opening the way for some energizing potential outcomes.
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Received October 2019; revised February 2020; accepted May 2020
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Blockchain Technology For Cloud Storage - A Systematic Literature Review

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Blockchain Technology for Cloud Storage: A Systematic

• An overview of cloud storage and blockchain technology is briefly highlighted and

Fig. 1. Overall flow of the study.

2 METHODOLOGY OF SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Fig. 2. Overview of SLR process.

To discuss future cloud computing security techniques.

• RQ4: What are the current research topics of blockchain technology?

Fig. 3. Distribution of papers from 2010 to 2019.

3.2 Blockchain Technology Overview

Fig. 4. Architecture of Blockchain.

Key Characteristics of Blockchain

4.1 Traditional Cloud Computing Techniques

4.2 Blockchain and Cloud Computing Studies

Fig. 5. Blockchain methods selected in this SLR.

5 EXISTING TECHNIQUES OF BLOCKCHAIN FOR CLOUD STORAGE

5.1 Blockchain-based Cryptographic Technique for Cloud Storage Service

Fig. 6. The architecture of cryptographic cloud storage.

5.2 Blockchain-based Data Deduplication Scheme for Cloud Storage Service

Fig. 7. Classification of deduplication.

5.4 Storage Efficiency Technique for Cloud-based Design

5.5 Redundant Array of Cloud Storage (RACS)

5.6 Blockchain-based Cloud Storage Access Control System

5.7 Blockchain-Enabled Payment System for Cloud

Fig. 8. The process of a payment system.

merchandise [70]. Concerning the advantages of the execution of a customer transaction as a

5.8 Blockchain-based Cloud Storage Data Deletion Scheme

5.9 Blockchain-based Bitcoin Technology for Cloud Storage

5.10 Searching Process in Blockchain-based Cloud Storage

5.11 Auditing Scheme in Blockchain-based Cloud Storage

5.12 Security and Privacy Issues in Blockchain-based Cloud Storage

5.13 Encryption Methods Used in Blockchain-based Cloud Storage

5.14 Blockchain Technology for Off-Chain Cloud Storage

6 REAL PROJECTS: BLOCKCHAIN-BASED DISTRIBUTED CLOUD

Table 1. Applications of Blockchain Technology for Cloud Storage

6.2 Sia: Distributed, Blockchain-based Cloud Storage

Table 2. Strengths of Works on Blockchain Technology for Cloud Storage

Fig. 9. Identified categories for analyzing distributed technologies.

6.4 Swarm: Serverless Hosting Incentivized Peer-to-Peer Storage

Table 3. Building Blocks of Distributed Cloud Storage Technologies

MaidSafe Sia Storj Swarm Filecoin IPFS

7 PROPERTIES OF BLOCKCHAIN FOR CLOUD STORAGE

8 INTEGRATING BLOCKCHAIN WITH CLOUD STORAGE-REQUIREMENTS

Fig. 10. The architecture of “Many Clouds” based on P2P.

9 SOME IMPORTANT INFERENCES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Table 4. Mapping of Blockchain Characteristics with Security Services

Secure Transactions Safe Data Authentication Case Secure

Table 5. Mapping of Research Questions with the References

Research Question Reference

Received October 2019; revised February 2020; accepted May 2020

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