Should stale profiles be removed from the Content Servers?

by 0x5e5d9d1dfd87e9b8b069b8e5d708db92be5ade99 (paralax)

Each time a user logs into Decentraland with a Wallet, a Profile entity is generated and deployed to the Catalyst node and stored in a content server, subsequently synchronized with all the other nodes in the network. This Profile entity has details such as avatar configuration, including body shapes, eye colors, hair, and the current outfit. Presently, certain nodes have approximately 2M profile entities, and whenever a new node is initiated, it must download all these profiles and create a local copy. The existing Garbage Collection system exclusively eliminates older versions of a Profiles, specifically when modifications are made on the same account or wallet. However, it is important to note that any profile entity ever created and uploaded to a catalyst server remains indefinitely. In essence, while changes to a profile trigger the removal of previous versions, profiles created years ago and left dormant on the platform persist forever. This perpetual retention accumulates profiles that may no longer serve any active purpose or will never be used again.

It's also important to highlight that the profile entity works solely as the avatar's configuration, while ownership and asset information associated with a wallet is securely stored on the blockchain. In the event that a profile entity is lost or deleted, users would only need to reconfigure the avatar and its outfit, no tangible content or ownership data would be compromised and all owned assets would be available.

This DAO poll is to gather consensus on the permanent removal of stale Profile entities from the Decentraland content servers. Managing stale content is necessary for optimizing server resources and improving efficiency. The proposed deletion rules for Profiles is detailed below:

Permanently remove any profile that hasn’t had an update in over a year. After a years of inactivity, the profile entity may be removed from the content server.

If this policy is implemented, it would serve as the default behavior for managing stale profiles. This approach ensures that snapshots of profiles remain coherent, preventing the need for nodes to download extensive profile snapshots during synchronization. By minimizing the download of unnecessary stale data, this policy enhances the efficiency of the synchronization process.

• yes
• no
• Invalid question/options

This proposal is summarized due to technical limitations. To view it complete and vote on it, visit the DCL DAO Governance dApp