# White paper (/protocol/architecture/white-paper)

import { ExternalLink } from 'lucide-react';

The white paper describes the original design of the Shelby protocol: its architecture,
erasure coding, and the research behind them. Shelby as you use it today, through the S3
API and an access key, is described in [How Shelby stores data](/protocol/architecture/overview).

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  </Card>
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