Hyperledger — Chapter 2 | Hyperledger Frameworks & Modules
In the first chapter we learnt all the foundational concepts related to blockchain & distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). In this post, we will focus purely on Hyperledger and its frameworks & modules at a high level.
By the end of this post, you will understand
- The differences between Hyperledger and permissionless blockchain technologies.
- The components of a Hyperledger Framework
- Hyperledger frameworks (Iroha, Sawtooth, Fabric, Indy, and Burrow)
- Hyperledger modules (Cello, Explorer, and Composer).
You can think of Hyperledger as an operating system for marketplaces, data sharing networks, micro-currencies, and decentralized digital communities.
*Sawtooth can be configured to be permissionless.
Differences between Hyperledger and permission-less blockchain technologies
**Key Hyperledger consensus protocols arePoET in Hyperledger Sawtooth, RBFT in Hyperledger Indy, Tendermint in Hyperledger Burrow, and Yet Another Consensus (YAC) in Hyperledger Iroha. The fabric is built on a pluggable architecture such that developers can configure their deployment with the consensus module that best suits their needs. The initial release package will offer three consensus implementations for users to select from: 1) No-op (consensus ignored); 2) Classic PBFT; and 3) SIEVE (an enhanced version of classic PBFT).
Components of Hyperledger Frameworks
Hyperledger business blockchain frameworks are used to build enterprise blockchains for a consortium of organizations. They are different than public ledgers like the Bitcoin blockchain and Ethereum. The Hyperledger frameworks include:
- An append-only distributed ledger
- A consensus algorithm for agreeing to changes in the ledger
- Privacy of transactions through permissioned access
- Smart contracts to process transaction requests.
Hyperledger Framework 1: Iroha
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 Framework 2: Sawtooth
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.
Eg: Sawtooth lake: Sawtooth Lake blockchain technology can provide an immutable record of the provenance and lineage of various goods, like fish.
Unique Characteristics of Sawtooth:
- Sawtooth is designed so that you can grow the size of the network
- You can actually change the consensus mechanism on the fly
Hyperledger Framework 3: Fabric
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
Hyperledger Framework 4: Indy
Hyperledger Indy is a distributed ledger purpose-built for decentralized identity. Hyperledger Indy’s goal is to achieve this by developing a set of decentralized identity specs and artifacts that are independent of any particular ledger and will enable interoperability across any DLT that supports them.
Indeed, since 2013, over 9 billion data records were lost or stolen. What is striking is that, out of these, only 4% were encrypted, and hence, rendered useless after being stolen (also called ‘secure breaches’). You can find detailed statistics at
One of the key principles of Hyperledger Indy is its ‘Privacy by Design’ approach. Given the immutable nature of the DLT, it is all the more important that digital identities be handled with the utmost care, keeping human values front and center.
Hyperledger Indy lets users authenticate identity based on the attributes they are willing to store and share themselves. This can reduce the amount of liability contained within a business because the data can be kept with the user and presented to you again in a way that you can trust and validate that what has been said really was said and is trusted by the other parties you do business with.
- Nathan George, Maintainer, Hyperledger Indy
Contributor: Sovrin foundation
Hyperledger Framework 5: Burrow
Currently under incubation, Hyperledger Burrow is a permissionable smart contract machine that provides a modular blockchain client with a permissioned smart contract interpreter built- in part to the specification of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It is the only available Apache-licensed EVM implementation.
Following are the major components of Burrow:
- The Gateway provides interfaces for systems integration and user interfaces
- The Smart contract application engine facilitates integration of complex business logic
- The Consensus Engine serves the dual purpose of:
- a. Maintaining the networking stack between the nodes, and,
- b. Ordering transactions
- The Application Blockchain Interface (ABCI) provides interface specification for the consensus engine and smart contract application engine to connect.
You can learn more about Hyperledger Burrow here
Recap
Hyperledger Frameworks
1. Iroha- A simple and easy to incorporate into infrastructure projects requiring distributed ledger technology
2. Sawtooth- A modular blockchain framework that implements the PoET consensus algorithm
3. Fabric- Modular Blockchain with private channels
4. Indy — De-centralised Identity
5. Burrow — Smart Contract Machine
Hyperledger Modules
The Hyperledger modules are auxiliary softwares used for things like deploying and maintaining blockchains, examining the data on the ledgers, as well as tools to design, prototype, and extend blockchain networks.
Hyperledger Module 1: Cello
For businesses that want to deploy Blockchain-as-a-Service, Hyperledger Cello provides a toolkit that fulfills this need. As a Hyperledger module, “Cello aims to bring the on-demand ‘as-a-service’ deployment model to the blockchain ecosystem”, thus helping in furthering the development and deployment of Hyperledger’s frameworks. Hyperledger Cello was initially contributed by IBM, with sponsors from Soramitsu, Huawei, and Intel. With Cello, You can build a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform.
Hyperledger Module 2: Hyperledger Explorer
Hyperledger Explorer is a tool for visualizing blockchain operations. It is the first ever blockchain explorer for permissioned ledgers, allowing anyone to explore the distributed ledger projects being created by Hyperledger’s members from the inside, without compromising their privacy. The project was contributed by DTCC, Intel, and IBM.
Designed to create a user-friendly web application, Hyperledger Explorer can view, invoke, deploy, or query:
- Blocks
- Transactions and associated data
- Network information (name, status, list of nodes)
- Smart contracts (chain codes and transaction families)
- Other relevant information stored in the ledger.
The ability to visualize data is of critical importance, in order to extract business value from it. Hyperledger Explorer provides this much needed functionality. Key components include a web server, a web UI, web sockets, a database, a security repository, and a blockchain implementation.
Hyperledger Module 3: Hyperledger Composer
Hyperledger Composer provides a suite of tools for building blockchain business networks. These tools allow you to:
- Model your business blockchain network
- Generate REST APIs for interacting with your blockchain network
- Generate a skeleton Angular application.
Built in Javascript (yaey!), Hyperledger Composer provides an easy-to-use set of components that developers can quickly learn and implement. The project was contributed by Oxchains and IBM.
The benefits of Hyperledger Composer are:
- Faster creation of blockchain applications, eliminating the massive effort required to build blockchain applications from scratch
- Reduced risk with well-tested, efficient design that aligns understanding across business and technical analysts
- Greater flexibility as the higher-level abstractions make it far simpler to iterate.
Recap
Hyperledger Modules:
* Cello - toolkit to build Blockchain as a service revenue stream for a consulting company
* Explorer - To create something similar to etherscan or blockchaininfo. A tool to visualise transactions, blocks etc
* Composer - suite of tools for building blockchain business networks
All right, so what did we learn ?
- The differences between Hyperledger and permmissionless blockchain technologies.
- Overview of Hyperledger frameworks such as Iroha, Sawtooth, Fabric, Indy, and Burrow.
- Overview of Hyperledger modules such as Cello, Explorer, and Composer.
See y'all in the next chapter!
Nandri,
Moses Sam Paul
Super cool.....