Currently, we are witnessing the transition from centralized computing, storage, and processing to decentralized architectures and systems. According to Muneeb Ali, these systems aim to "give explicit control of digital assets to end-users and remove the need to trust any third-party servers and infrastructure". Distributed ledger technology is one of the key innovations making this shift possible.
A distributed ledger is a type of data structure which resides across multiple computer devices, generally spread across locations or regions.
Distributed Ledger Technology includes blockchain technologies and smart contracts. While distributed ledgers existed prior to Bitcoin, the Bitcoin blockchain marks the convergence of a host of technologies, including timestamping of transactions, Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks, cryptography, and shared computational power, along with a new consensus algorithm.
In summary, distributed ledger technology generally consists of three basic components:
A data model that captures the current state of the ledger
A language of transactions that changes the ledger state
A protocol used to build consensus among participants around which transactions will be accepted, and in what order, by the ledger.
According to hyperledger.org,
"A blockchain is a peer-to-peer distributed ledger forged by consensus, combined with a system for "smart contracts" and other assistive technologies."
Smart contracts are simply computer programs that execute predefined actions when certain conditions within the system are met.
Consensus refers to a system of ensuring that parties agree to a certain state of the system as the true state. © All Rights Reserved
- IROHA.
https://www.coindesk.com/7-cool-decentralized-apps-built-ethereum/
Augur, which is a Decentralized Prediction Market. Learn more at https://augur.net/.
Digix, which tokenizes gold on Ethereum. Learn more at: https://digix.global/.
Maker, which is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Learn more at: https://makerdao.com/.
*Stamp.io.
- Permission blockchains.
- Hyperledger is a group of open source projects focused around cross-industry distributed ledger technologies. Hosted by The Linux Foundation, collaborators include industry leaders in technology, finance, banking, supply chain management, manufacturing, and IoT
Hyperledger Iroha is a blockchain framework contributed by Soramitsu, Hitachi, NTT Data, and Colu. Hyperledger Iroha is designed to be simple and easy to incorporate into infrastructure projects requiring distributed ledger technology. Hyperledger Iroha emphasizes mobile application development with client libraries for Android and iOS, making it distinct from other Hyperledger frameworks. Inspired by Hyperledger Fabric, Hyperledger Iroha seeks to complement Hyperledger Fabric and Hyperledger Sawtooth, while providing a development environment for C++ developers to contribute to Hyperledger.
In conclusion, Hyperledger Iroha features a simple construction, modern, domain-driven C++ design, along with the consensus algorithm YAC.
Hyperledger Sawtooth, contributed by Intel, is a blockchain framework that utilizes a modular platform for building, deploying, and running distributed ledgers. Distributed ledger solutions built with Hyperledger Sawtooth can utilize various consensus algorithms based on the size of the network. By default, it uses the Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET) consensus algorithm, which provides the scalability of the Bitcoin blockchain without the high energy consumption. PoET allows for a highly scalable network of validator nodes. Hyperledger Sawtooth is designed for versatility, with support for both permissioned and permissionless deployments.
Hyperledger Fabric was the first proposal for a codebase, combining previous work done by Digital Asset Holdings, Blockstream's libconsensus, and IBM's OpenBlockchain. Hyperledger Fabric provides a modular architecture, which allows components such as consensus and membership services to be plug-and-play. Hyperledger Fabric is revolutionary in allowing entities to conduct confidential transactions without passing information through a central authority. This is accomplished through different channels that run within the network, as well as the division of labor that characterizes the different nodes within the network. Lastly, it is important to remember that, unlike Bitcoin, which is a public chain, Hyperledger Fabric supports permissioned deployments.
"If you have a large blockchain network and you want to share data with only certain parties, you can create a private channel with just those participants. It is the most distinctive thing about Fabric right now."
- Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director of Hyperledger, The Linux Foundation