Samschtig,23 April, 2022
For my week-end project I have decided to check how to host this website on the blockchain.
I know that blockchain is pretty much a buzz-word now 😁 but it is actually possible to host a static website using either IPFS or IC Dfinity Internet Computer.
Since all of this is very technical I decided to try Fleek that takes care of continuous integration (via Github, Gitlab, Bitbucket etc.) and taking care of the IPFS (InterPlanetary File System🪐) setup and even allows you to use a decentralized domain like .ETH or and Handshake domain.
You can also use a traditional domain name, in this case david.dev is currently hosted in IPFS so in a distributed system.
To host on Fleek is is really easy, the same process you would use on Vercel or Netlify, but the pricing is different: there is a free tier that includes:
-Custom Domains & HTTPS
-Continuous Git Deployments
-Unlimited Projects
-3GB Storage Included
-250 Build Min & 50GB BW
which is fairly generous but the PRO plan at 40$ a month offers more:
- 3+ Team Members
- Email & Slack Notifications
- 400GB Storage Included
- 750 Build Min & 300GB BW
And, what seems to be a big advantage, is the benefit of Global CDN Deployment.
Now, to be fully Web 3.0 I tried to register also a handshake domain. What is that? well you can be the most famous handshake suffix like .js or .txt even at porkbun and other providers but, via namebase, you can register a whole TLD.
When it sounds too good to be true it is. Beside the fact that you need to buy these HNS coins (and the only way is to change bitcoin into it) Namebase as a very arcane system to register them. You can register you own .TLD for very little but, at least at the time of writing, these are not supported by default by any browser.
I did end up being a bit stuck with handshake TLDs without checking so handle with care or stay away alltogether.
A good solution is ENS, Ethereum Name Service domains. The pricing is not like you usual .com BUT you can access your domain with brave browser or also opera.
Additionally, your domain is also available with the eth.limo decentralized service (or eth.link by cloudflare)for example this site is also available at https://megacool.eth.limo.
As an extra bonus your ENS domain is essentially a NFT that you can store in your wallet.
The domain details are fully accessible in the blockchain.
I will certainly write more information about this topic. So far I am happy that I managed to migrate to this new web 3.0 distributed system and, hopefully, all will work as expected.
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