What is Hyperledger?

Hyperledger is an open-source effort; the Linux Foundation founded this platform in 2015 with the idea of creating a blockchain framework. There are many solutions developed using hyper ledger like Hyperledger Fabric. More than 100+ members support Hyperledger now, including IBM, Intel, Samsung, JP Morgan,.

Let us go over this technology to understand its building blocks, how it works, and how we can use this in data strategy.?

Before we jump into Hyperledger, we need to understand what Blockchain is; we need to understand two key aspects a) what kind of network this chain has and b) what a block is.

What kind of network?

There are several types of networks.

• Centralized network: A Client-Server architecture is a perfect example, where the server is at the center, and all clients connect to the server
• Decentralized network: This type is a collection of small sub-centralized networks connected.
• Distributed network: In this type of network, each node connects to every other node, also known as a peer-to-peer network.?Blockchain uses this type of network.

In simple terms, a Blockchain is a decentralized ledger on a peer-to-peer network that tracks digital assets. The asset can be sales, purchases, equipment, or page visits. It is like an excel sheet. We track row records transactions in the excel sheet, and the column holds asset information. And this ledger is distributed in parts or full over the network machines.?

What is a block?

Blockchain uses the list data structure—the list stores data in ascending or descending order.

Blockchain is a chain or linking of blocks such that each successor block builds on the predecessor block. To understand this in detail, let us know the league's structure.

Each block can have the following elements Nonce, Its Index number in the list, Timestamp, Transactions or Data, Hash of the previous block, and Hash of the current block.??

The nonce is the number miners identify such that the next block is either ascending or descending order of hash based on the algorithm. You calculate the current block's hash using all data elements, including the previous blocks' hash value—this way, each block builds upon the last block, achieving data immutability. Data immutability means it is tough to modify the data inside the block. Finding out if there are any modifications is straightforward—you store the current block hash in the next block as the previous one.??

In short, Blockchain is a consensus-based secure decentralized public/private database which stores information immutably over the peer-to-peer network.

Hyperledger does not support cryptocurrency. According to papers published by Hyperledger Architecture Working Group, there is no single architecture for Hyperledger that follows a design philosophy. It includes:

Consensus Layer

Consensus determines which blockchain transactions are valid, and consensus mechanisms are the algorithms used to achieve this agreement for agreement on the order.

Here are ten types of consensus mechanisms for detailed information; read this article.

Image courtesy of Crypto.com

Smart Contract Layer?

This layer runs business logic for processing requests on Blockchain. Smart contracts can be as simple as a data update or as complex as executing an agreement with business rules. For example, a smart contract can update an account balance with validation to ensure enough money is in an account before debiting.

There are two types of Smart Contracts:

• Installed smart contracts: In this case, we add Business logic to the network before launching the network.
• On-chain smart contracts: In this case, we can have business logic as a transaction committed to the Blockchain.?

Hyperledger uses Chaincode, which is similar to a Smart contract. You can develop tokens on Hyperledger using Chaincode. Hyperledger does not support currency setup.

Communication Layer?

The architecture uses a peer-to-peer network as a distributed network. In this network, every node performs the same task as the server and the client.

There are two types of peer-to-peer networks.

• Unstructured networks: New nodes join this network by copying existing links; links establish randomly
• Structured networks: This allows each peer to look after a specific section of the content.

Data Store Abstraction?Layer

By abstracting, the data storage allows various data stores to be used by modules.

Crypto Abstraction Layer

Hyperledger supports the abstraction of crypto algorithms, allowing flexibility to use any crypto algorithms. Most of the time, for any Blockchain, you usually have to select consensus algorithms before the network. However, because of this abstraction in Hyperledger, you can change consensus algorithms without restarting the Blockchain.

Identity Services Layer

It handles all management aspects of identities like enrollment, registration of identities, and modification. It also provides authentication and authorization functions.

Policy Services Layer

The policy services layer is a layer for managing all the policies in the system, such as consensus, endorsement, and group management. This work with other layers to enforce the policy rules.

APIs, SDKs, CLI Layer

This layer provides interfaces to interact with Blockchains which enables clients and applications.

Interoperation Layer

The diagram below explains how interoperations between different blockchain instances are handled. For more information, read Why is Interoperability Needed?

Image courtesy of Hyperledger Foundation.

Hyperledger Umbrella Projects

• Hyperledger Fabric:?IBM leads this project; it is a plug-and-play framework for implementing Blockchain.?
• Hyperledger Sawtooth:?Intel leads this project using a new consensus algorithm called Proof of Elapsed Time.
• Hyperledger Iroha:?Soramitsu, Hitachi, NTT Data, and Colu developed this project using a chain-based Byzantine Fault Tolerant consensus algorithm, hm called Sumeragi, used in mobile application development
• Hyperledger Burrow:?This project was sponsored by Intel and developed by Monax using Ethereum Virtual Machine.
• Hyperledger Indy:?Evernym developed this project for decentralized identity.
• Hyperledger Cello:?IBM, Soramitsu, Huawei, and Intel developed this project to reduce the effort required for creating, managing, and terminating blockchains
• Hyperledger Explorer:?IBM, Intel, and DTCC initially contributed to this project to create a web application using a ledger.

Can we use Hyperledger?

1. There is no coin or cryptocurrency support in Hyperledger, so consider your application needs before you think about Hyperledger.
2. Hyperledger schemas are available on Couch DB to support rich queries.
3. It is a modular architecture that provides lots of abstractions, giving freedom to choose technologies.

Hyperledger has exclusively used Blockchain to build enterprise transaction-based applications and needs extensive tools, so using that for personal applications is not helpful however you can use it for any enterprise application to gain productivity enhancement, reduce risk of operations, gain competitive advantage, and regulatory/compliance reporting applications