This is already what relays do, they don't store blobs, only links to the upload and cdn services like nostr.build. relays don't need tons of disk space, it's just json text.
Discussion
Oh, thanks. Wasn't aware of that 😳
So then why is the mere text download and storage such a big problem? Hard to imagine a relay that does text only is expensive to run.
It's not..
It depends, actually. If relay is big enough, the bandwidth and storage can be a problem. Well run relay is expensive to run, nothing is free, especially people’s time. 🐶🐾🫡
Yes, the time it takes to try to combat impossible spam is I think a far larger cost than the server cost. There is also, many times when someone just 'throws money at' the problem (in the form of paying for more servers) in order not to spend the time optimizing the service. In a startup when hours are scarce and money is not, this is a legit way to run. For nostr, I think it's an unsustainable way to go though.
Agree. And also think that the current duplicate all events to all relays thing is a huge problem down the line. 🐶🐾🫡