The Difference Between Data Availability and Data Recoverability
Availability is often discussed as whether data is online at a given moment. Recoverability is about whether data can be reconstructed even after partial loss. Walrus places strong emphasis on the second. This distinction matters because decentralized systems are inherently dynamic. Nodes leave, disks fail, and networks fragment. Recoverability ensures that data remains usable despite those conditions. Without it, availability metrics can be misleading. Walrus treats recoverability as the real benchmark for durability, aligning more closely with how critical data systems are evaluated outside blockchain contexts.
