# GUN

GUN is a decentralized graph database, and an ecosystem of tools.

The stack includes:

- [ERA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HJdrBk3BlE) (economic system)
- [AXE](http://axe.eco) (routing)
- [DAM](https://gun.eco/docs/DAM) (networking)
- [RAD](https://gun.eco/docs/RAD) (storage)
- [SEA](https://gun.eco/docs/SEA) (security)
- [GUN](http://gun.eco) (data)
- [HAM](https://gun.eco/distributed/matters.html) (conflict resolution)

### Network structure

Decentralized/p2p. Uses data replication via message passing.

It daisy-chains, [routes](https://gun.eco/docs/Routing), & relays messages.

It also works over most existing transports: WebRTC, UDP multicast, TCP/HTTP -> Websocket, etc.

## Identity

GUN supports multi-device login that is cryptographically secure yet uses "normal" UX. (?) This technique can be extended to secure password resets (no servers).

There is a password recovery mechanism using a 3-Friend-Authorization approach.

Iris adds a [reputation system](https://medium.com/@mmalmi/learning-to-trust-strangers-167b652a654f) to SEA which provides the underlying cryptographic Security, Encryption, & Authorization.

#### Data

- Data models (graphs, key/value, document, table, relational, hyper-graphs)
- Data availability ([AP](https://gun.eco/docs/CAP-Theorem), strongly eventually consistent)

#### Monetization

- Business models (Open Source, donation, enterprise, + decentralized PaaS, dBaaS, SaaS, Marketplace)
- Payment (AXE bandwidth credits)

#### Filtering

- Queries (GUN, [GraphQL](https://github.com/brysgo/graphql-gun), historical prototypes of SQL, Mango [Mongo])

#### Moderation

Iris and NAB (see above link).

- Protocol level (no)
- Server level (no)
- User level (yes)
- Content level (yes)

### Privacy and Access Control

1.  Cryptographic keys are assigned to roles, groups, or data points.
2.  This information is either used to derive a shared ECDH secret to decrypt (read)
3.  Or used to load collaborative multi-writer edits (signed).

### Interoperablity

Plugins, such as backup storage on centralized databases or file systems, can be used to extend GUN.

### Scalability

A user reported a [70% cost savings](https://twitter.com/cagataycali/status/1245442681251205120) on cloud bills on a project with 1M+ page loads a month.

### Metrics

- 11K+ [github](https://github.com/amark/gun) stars
- 10M ~ 30M monthly [downloads](https://www.jsdelivr.com/package/npm/gun)

### Implementations

- [Internet Archive](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17685682) (library meta-data)
- [HackerNoon](https://hackernoon.com/state-of-hacker-noon-2019-2020-8w1ls3axx) (annotations)
- [Meething](https://meething.space/) (Mozilla backed secure & decentralized video conferencing powered by GUN)
- Iris, Notabug, DTube, others...
  [Party](https://party.lol/)
  [Notabug](https://notabug.io/t/notabug/comments/59382d2a08b7d7073415b5b6ae29dfe617690d74/welcome-to-notabug)

### Links

[Whitepaper](https://stanford.edu/~nadal/A-Decentralized-Data-Synchronization-Protocol.pdf)