Hyperledger Network

Hyperledger Network

In the Post Ethereum world, the debates on a decentralised yet scalable blockchain software persisted. Hence, to deliver the industry requirements, Hyperledger fabric was developed in 2015 by Linux Foundations.

Hyperledger Fabric

Hyperledger Fabric is an open-source platform for building distributed ledger solutions, with a modular architecture that delivers high degrees of confidentiality, flexibility, resiliency, and scalability. Soon after its development, it was suitable to use in any and every industry given its nature of being a blockchain network managed by major cloud providers. It is often considered the go-to software for catering to enterprise blockchain solutions     Observing the fundamental topology of this software, we can understand it’s a decentralised network. Each user in the network has a separate and unique node for the DApps development. Unique sharing between two or more nodes of the network. To understand it further, we primarily segregate into three types of Hyperledger Fabric Networks-

1. Certificate Authorities (CA) keep the network intact as a whole by creating chains of trust.
2. Orderers keep the consistency in check and are responsible for creating ledger blocks to store transactions.
3. Peers is where the transaction blockchain is safely stored which is the ledger along with the world state.

Along with this, the application on the user side is connected to the main blockchain network via codes written in one of the contemporary programming languages known as software development kit (SDK).     The working of this complex yet efficient model of the network is done in the following way-

1. Proposal Creation:
   The proposal is initiated by a member organisation when it produces a transaction request. Once the request has been made, the application on the client-side ensures that it has been sent to all the peers/ users in the organisation.
2. Transaction Endorsement:
   Once the proposal is sent to the peer responsible for its endorsement, it verifies the authenticity certificate to ensure the legitimacy of the transaction. Once the credentials are verified, it implements the chain code at their end to present a response to the request. The response is given in the form of either an approval or rejection of the request.
3. Service Implementation:
   Once the endorsement output is sent out, responses are received by the client-side application. The peer responsible for the ordering service includes the transaction into a specific block and sends it to the peer nodes of different members of the network.
4. Ledger Update:
   Once the transaction block is developed the update regarding the same is sent to each peer node for updating their respective local ledgers as well with the new block. Hence, with the completion of the process, the new block is established in the blockchain.

This kind of blockchain solution offers several unique advantages to its peer nodes such as- Immutability The blockchain ensures that once a block has been established with a unique hash code, its data cannot be altered easily or removed from the block. Replication It’s a decentralised network of various peer nodes, where each user possesses a replica of the ledger records. Consensus To implement a new block in the network, the consensus or the approval o other peer nodes in the network is required. Smart contract Each blockchain also consists of some fundamental business logic that provides transparency in the blockchain when executed. With the huge diversity of features and advantages, let us look at some of the major industries where Hyperledger fibers are useful-    

1. Supply Chain:
   With numerous peers/ stakeholders in each network, such a decentralised yet efficient blockchain solution acts as a game-changer. It ensures safety, transparency, and immutability all while connecting users across the world in a time-efficient supply chain management system.
2. Trading and Asset Transfer:
   Asset transfer services contain a lot of intermediaries such as banks, clients, users, brokers, etc. Hyperledger forms a safe link among the various parties involved and aids in carrying out the entire procedure smoothly. It also saves the tedious paperwork and formalities of banks and digitalises records in a permanent manner in the network.
3. Insurance:
   The insurance industry worldwide is prone to fraudulence and data tampering. This causes humongous loss to the insurance companies. Hence creating a Hyperledger blockchain, will decentralise the ledgers where everyone owns a copy, avoiding theft and ensuring transparency of records among the parties involved. The use of Hyperledger also benefits in the verification of the identity of various users alongside making the KYC process smoother with the use of such a private blockchain solution.