Amazon Managed Blockchain: Re-imagining Blockchain

But first, what is ‘Blockchain’?

Blockchain is a transparent, secure and inexpensive system of recording information in a pattern that is impossible to change, hack or circumvent the established network of systems. A blockchain can also be defined as a digital ledger of transactions that can be stored securely and distributed along a vast network of computers within the blockchain.

Every block in the chain has recorded a number of transactions and all new transactions are recorded and added to the participant’s digital ledger. This ledger is managed by multiple participants using the technology known as Distributed Ledger Technology or DLT. These transactions are recorded with permanent cryptographic signatures, called as ‘hash.’

Blockchain on AWS

A blockchain enables multiple parties to build applications and transact without the need for a trusted, central authority or a regulatory authority. Running an efficient blockchain requires network members to source hardware, install software, create, manage certificates for access control and configure networking components. Once up and running, the blockchain requires meticulous maintenance and monitoring of the infrastructure along with an ability to navigate through many challenges.

Amazon Managed Blockchain is a fully managed service that makes it easy to create and manage scalable blockchain networks using the popular open-source frameworks Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum. Amazon Managed Blockchain enables users to join public networks and manage scalable private networks easily and efficiently. It adapts and automatically scales so that the applications are kept running and transactions are flowing without interruptions while allowing users to manage and maintain the blockchain productively.

What are its benefits?

Fully Managed Service

Amazon Managed Blockchain allows you to create quick blockchain networks that span multiple AWS accounts, enabling a group of members to execute transactions and share data without a central authority. Unlike self-hosting your blockchain infrastructure, Amazon Managed Blockchain eliminates the need for manually provisioning hardware, configuring software, and setting up networking and security components.

Choice of Popular blockchain frameworks

Amazon Managed Blockchain supports two popular blockchain frameworks, Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum. Hyperledger Fabric is well-suited for applications that require stringent privacy and permission controls with a known set of members, for example, a financial application where certain trade-related data is only shared with select banks. Ethereum is well suited for highly distributed blockchain networks where transparency of data for all members is important.

Scalable and Secure

Amazon Managed Blockchain can easily scale your blockchain network as the usage of applications on the network grows over time. When a network member requires additional capacity for creating and validating transactions, the member can quickly add a new peer node using Managed Blockchain’s APIs. Managed Blockchain provides a selection of instance types that comprise varying combinations of CPU and memory to give you the flexibility to choose the appropriate mix of resources for your workload.

Reliability

Amazon Managed Blockchain improves the reliability of the “ordering service,” a component in the Hyperledger Fabric framework that ensures delivery of transactions across the blockchain network. Hyperledger Fabric’s default ordering service does not store a complete history of transactions, making it hard to keep track of and recover transaction history when needed. Managed Blockchain’s ordering service is built using Amazon QLDB technology and has an immutable change log that accurately maintains the complete history of all transactions in the blockchain network, ensuring that you durably save this data.

AMB also manages your certificates, lets you easily invite new members to join the network, and tracks operational metrics such as usage of computing power, memory, and storage resources. In addition, Managed Blockchain can create a permanent copy of your blockchain network activity into Amazon Quantum Ledger Database (QLDB), a fully managed ledger database. This allows you to easily analyze the network activity outside the network and gain insights into trends that can be used to make improvements.