Blockchains are really beginning to leave their mark on the tech industry in recent times. Seen as a revolutionary invention by many, Blockchains are finding use-cases and solving real-world problems in many industries. And the hype it is generating is truly justified by its decentralized nature which promises security, integrity, and redundancy for data among other things. It is, therefore, completely natural for big companies to sweep in and use this technology to reap the fruity benefits that it provides.
The Linux Foundation understood the value of blockchains at an early stage and started the Hyperledger Project. The Linux Foundation is, of course, known for their open-source mode of development. In rookie terms, open-source code means that the code is available for everyone to see and work on. In fact, The Linux Foundation encourages developers to take part in their open-source projects. The Hyperledger Project was instantiated as a blockchain solution for businesses and enterprises. This initial step from the Linux Foundation to develop blockchain solutions under the Hyperledger umbrella attracted a lot of big name companies, including IBM and Intel.
The Hyperledger Umbrella is now home to a host of different blockchain related projects for businesses and enterprises. It is important to note here that the cryptocurrency blockchains most people are familiar with (e.g. bitcoin) are public and permisionless blockchains which means that anyone can become a part of that network and have access to the blockchain. The Hyperledger Project however, since it’s for use of businesses and enterprises, is a private and permissioned network which means that to become a part of this network you must first get authentication. Some of the most important Hyperledger projects are:
Hyperledger Sawtooth:
Sawtooth is a modular blockchain suite that is being developed by Intel. Written in Python, Sawtooth uses a new Consensus Algorithm called Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET). Use cases
considered for this project are vast, ranging from financials to IoT. Sawtooth also supports both Permissioned and Permissionless applications and deployments.
Hyperledger Fabric:
IBM have been working on Hyperledger restlessly for quite some time now and their hard work is beginning to show. Fabric is now used by IBM themselves for a variety of their own projects and for collaborations with different business partners. Written in Golang, Fabric is like a plug-n-play version of the blockchain where you can set things up according to your requirements. It also uses a smart contract system, called chaincode, which runs the underlying blockchain of Hyperledger Fabric.
Hyperledger Burrow:
The Hyperledger Burrow Project is an attempt from The Linux Foundation to extend the usability of Ethereum. Ethereum comes with its very own Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), and it is the intent of Burrow to include a permissioned, smart contract interpreter that cooperates with the EVM.
Hyperledger Iroha:
The Iroha project is still trying to find its feet in the Hyperledger incubation centre. Written in C++, the project originated in Japan where some developers came up with their own blockchain technology for mobile use-cases
Apart from these platforms, the Hyperledger Umbrella is also home to a host of tools used to further add
value to the use of Blockchain. These tools include:
Hyperledger Composer:
Hyperledger Composer is a tool that is used to quickly design the data model for your blockchain. Components of Composer include:
- Model File (.cto)
- Script File (.js)
- Queries File (.qry)
- Access Control Permissions (.acl)
A blockchain data model archive developed on composer can be installed on any of the underlying Hyperledger platforms.
Hyperledger Explorer:
Hyperledger Explorer is a tool that is used to view the blockchain. It is simply a blockchain explorer. Through Hyperledger Explorer, you can see
- How many blocks have been added
- How many chaincodes exist
- How many transactions have happened
- View Specific details of any transaction
- View Specific details of any block
Many more things are expected of Hyperledger Explorer, but the product is still under development.
Hyperledger Cello:
Hyperledger Cello is a tool used for the provisioning and management of Blockchain networks. Using Cello, you can:
- Manage the Lifecycle of Blockchains
- Support Customized (e.g. Block size, Consensus) Requests
- Use Bare-Metal, Virtual Machine, Docker Containers, swarm, or Kubernetes as the worker nodes.
- Check system status, adjust chain numbers, and scale resources.
The Hyperledger Project is still in the development stages and slowly gaining traction worldwide. If you want to work on a Hyperledger project, please feel free to contact our blockchain development company.