Byzantine Ethereum
blockchain includes public blockchain, joint (instry) blockchain and private blockchain. Public chain point-to-point e-cash system: bitcoin, smart contract and decentralized application platform: ethereum
blockchain is a new application mode of distributed data storage, point-to-point transmission, consensus mechanism, encryption algorithm and other computer technologies
blockchain is an important concept of bitcoin. In essence, it is a decentralized database. At the same time, as the underlying technology of bitcoin, it is a series of data blocks generated by using cryptographic methods. Each data block contains a batch of bitcoin network transaction information, Used to verify the validity of its information (anti-counterfeiting) and generate the next block
extended data
according to the different degree of blockchain network centralization, three kinds of blockchains under different application scenarios are differentiated:
1. The blockchain with the whole network open and without user authorization mechanism is called public chain
2. The authorized nodes are allowed to join the network, and the information can be viewed according to the authority. It is often used in the inter agency blockchain, which is called alliance chain or instry chain
3. All the nodes in the network are in the hands of one organization, which is called private chain
alliance chain and private chain are also called licensing chain, and public chain is called non licensing chain
blockchain features
1, decentralization. Blockchain technology does not rely on additional third-party management institutions or hardware facilities, and there is no central control. In addition to the self-contained blockchain itself, each node realizes information self verification, transmission and management through distributed accounting and storage. Decentralization is the most prominent and essential feature of blockchain
2. Openness. Blockchain technology is based on open source. In addition to the private information of all parties involved in the transaction is encrypted, the data of blockchain is open to everyone. Anyone can query blockchain data and develop related applications through the open interface, so the information of the whole system is highly transparent
3. Independence. Based on consensus specifications and Protocols (similar to various mathematical algorithms such as hash algorithm used by bitcoin), the whole blockchain system does not rely on other third parties, and all nodes can automatically and safely verify and exchange data in the system without any human intervention
4. Safety. As long as 51% of all data nodes cannot be controlled, the network data cannot be arbitrarily manipulated and modified, which makes the blockchain itself relatively safe and avoids subjective and artificial data changes
5. Anonymity. Unless there are legal requirements, technically speaking, the identity information of each block node does not need to be disclosed or verified, and the information can be transferred anonymously
"decentralization" is translated from the English word decentralization, which is composed of the prefix de -, stem central and suffix ization. Among them, the stem central means "center", the suffix - ization means "... Hua", and the prefix de - has the meanings of leaving, removing, canceling and opposite. Therefore, it is very accurate to translate it into decentralization
what is the meaning of decentralization
vitalik buterin, founder of Ethereum, published the article "the meaning of decentralization" in February 2017, elaborating the meaning of decentralization. He thinks that we should distinguish the centralization and decentralization of computer software from three perspectives: architecture, governance and logic
Architecture centralization refers to the number of nodes that the system can tolerate and continue to run; Governance centralization refers to how many indivials and organizations are needed to control the system; Logic centralization refers to whether the interface and data presented by the system are like a single whole
blockchain is a unified account book of the whole network, so it is logically centralized, which is beyond doubt. From the perspective of architecture, blockchain is based on peer-to-peer network, so it is decentralized. From the perspective of governance, blockchain makes it difficult for a few people to control the whole system through consensus algorithm, so it is decentralized. The decentralization of architecture and governance brings three benefits to blockchain: fault tolerance, anti attack and anti collusion
five differences between blockchain and traditional distributed system
as a new kind of distributed system, blockchain is often mistakenly regarded as a distributed database or log system. In fact, there is a fundamental difference between blockchain and traditional distributed system, namely decentralization. Now let's look at the main differences between blockchain and traditional distributed systems:
(1) consistency algorithm: what blockchain needs to solve is the Byzantine general problem, that is, there are one or more fraulent nodes in the network, which may deliberately violate the protocol or transmit wrong data, Therefore, Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus algorithms, such as BFT, pow, POS, are often used in blockchain; The traditional distributed system only needs to consider the node failure and communication errors, and often uses consistency algorithms such as Paxos and raft, which can not resist the fraulent nodes
(2) central controller: there is no central controller in the blockchain network, and no node can control or coordinate the generation of ledger data. All nodes coordinate through consensus algorithm to generate consistent ledger. However, the traditional publishing system is often controlled by one organization, which uniformly dispatches all nodes to participate in the calculation
(3) rule making: the rule of blockchain is consensus protocol, also known as consensus mechanism, and consensus algorithm is a part of it. Consensus mechanism is generally designed and developed by a person or a team, and the corresponding proceres are developed for the community to use. This seems to be the same as the traditional distributed system, but the change and upgrading of the consensus mechanism of the blockchain requires the community to have a consensus on it. If no consensus can be reached, anyone can implement hard bifurcation and build another community and chain. This is the decentralization process of consensus mechanism.
do you remember what the consensus mechanism of bitcoin is? The consensus mechanism of bitcoin is pow. To put it simply, the more work you do, the higher the amount of computation you pay, the more likely you will be the first to find the correct hash value, and the more likely you will be rewarded with bitcoin
however, there are some defects in the pow of bitcoin, that is, it is too slow to process transactions, and miners need to constantly collide hash values through calculation, which is costly and inefficient. Friends who are interested in blockchain knowledge should see such a saying:
in order to make up for the deficiency of bitcoin, Ethereum has proposed a new consensus mechanism, called POS (this is the abbreviation of English, which means "proof of equity", also translated into "proof of equity")
POS simply means the same as its literal meaning: equity, equity. The more currency you hold, the more equity you have, the higher your equity
Ethereum's POS means that the more money you hold, the longer you hold it, the less difficult it will be to calculate and the easier it will be to mine
in the initial setting of Ethereum, Ethereum hopes to build a relatively stable system by using POW in the early stage, then graally adopt POW + POS, and finally completely transition to POS. So, it's true that the consensus mechanism of Ethereum is POS, but POS is only a plan or goal at the beginning of Ethereum's release. At present, Ethereum has not yet transitioned to POS, and the consensus mechanism adopted by Ethereum is still pow, that is, the pow of bitcoin, but it is slightly different from the pow of bitcoin
the amount of information here is a bit large,
the first information point is that the consensus mechanism currently adopted by Ethereum is also pow, but it is slightly different from the pow of bitcoin. So, what's the difference between the pow of Ethereum and bitcoin: in short, the mining difficulty of Ethereum can be adjusted, but the mining difficulty of bitcoin can't be adjusted. Just like our college entrance examination, because the teaching situation and the number of students in different provinces are not the same, so the college entrance examination is divided into national papers and provincial independent proposition
Ethereum said that I am in favor of the topic by region. Bitcoin said: No, it must be the same volume in the whole country. The difficulty is the same for everyone
the popular explanation is that bitcoin uses computer computing power to do a lot of hash collisions, enumerate various possibilities to find a correct hash value. The Ethereum system has a special formula to calculate the difficulty of each block. If a block is verified faster than the previous block, Ethereum protocol will increase the difficulty of the block. By adjusting the block difficulty, the time needed to verify the block can be adjusted
according to the Ethereum protocol, the dynamic adjustment method of difficulty is to make the time interval of creating new blocks in the whole network 15 seconds, and the network uses 15 seconds to create blockchain. In this way, because the time is too fast, the synchronization of the system is greatly improved, and it is difficult for malicious participants to launch 51% (that is, more than half) of the computing power to modify historical data in such a short time
the second information point is: in the initial setting of Ethereum, we hope to achieve the transition from POW to
POS through phased upgrade
dating back to 2014, at the beginning of Ethereum's launch, the team announced that the launch of the project would be divided into four stages, namely, Froniter, homestead, metropolis and serenity. In the first three stages, the consensus mechanism adopts pow (workload proof mechanism), and in the fourth stage, it switches to POS (equity proof mechanism)
on July 30, 2015, the first phase "frontier" of Ethereum was officially released. This phase is only suitable for developers. Developers can write smart contracts and decentralized application DAPP on Ethereum network, and miners begin to enter Ethereum network to maintain network security and get Ethereum coins. The leading-edge version is similar to the beta version, proving whether the Ethereum network is reliable or not
on March 14, 2016, Ethereum entered the second stage of "homeland". In this stage, Ethereum provides the wallet function, so that ordinary users can easily experience and use Ethereum. There is no obvious technology improvement in other aspects, but it shows that Ethereum network can run smoothly
in September 2017, Ethereum has reached the third stage of "metropolis"“ "Metropolis" is composed of Byzantine and Constantinople. The goal of this stage is to introce the hybrid chain mode of POW and POS, so as to prepare for the smooth transition from POW to POS. This is the latest popular "Ethereum Constantinople upgrade". In the Constantinople upgrade, Ethereum will make some changes to the underlying protocols and algorithms to lay a good foundation for the implementation of POW and
POS
how much reward will Ethereum get for mining? Miners who win the block creation competition will get the following income:
1. Static reward, 5 ethereums
2. The fuel cost in the block, i.e. gas, we talked about in the last issue
3. As a part of the block, it includes the extra reward of "Uncle block". Uncle is uncle of uncle, and each uncle block can get 1 / 32 of the mining reward as a reward, that is, 5 times 1 / 32, which is equal to 0.15625 ethereums. Here, let's briefly explain the concept of "TERT block". The concept of "TERT block" was proposed by Ethereum. Why should we introce the concept of TERT block? This also starts with bitcoin. In the bitcoin protocol, the longest chain is considered absolutely correct. If a block is not part of the longest chain, it is called a "orphan block". An isolated block is a block, which is also legal, but it may be found later, or the network transmission is slower, and it does not become part of the longest chain. In bitcoin, the solitude is meaningless and will be discarded later, and the miners who find the solitude will not receive mining related rewards
however, Ethereum does not think that isolated blocks are worthless, and Ethereum system will give rewards to miners who find isolated blocks. In Ethereum, isolated blocks are called "Uncle blocks", which can contribute to the security of the main chain. Ethereum's ten second block interval is too fast, which will rece the security. By encouraging the use of tertiary blocks, the main chain can obtain more security guarantees (because the isolated block itself is legal). Moreover, paying the tertiary block can also stimulate the miners to actively mine and actively use tertiary blocks. Therefore, Ethereum thinks that it is valuable.
The
Ethereum mining
Berlin hard fork will mark the end of the metropolitan era. This is a key stage in Ethereum's history, which is divided into two stages (Byzantine and Constantinople), including several branches, including Atlantis, Istanbul, and finally reached its peak in Berlin
although POW is not optimal, it is now the most practical consensus algorithm. For example, bitcoin, lightcoin and decent all adopt the pow proof mechanism.