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id: a_better_understanding_of_wealth
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title: A Better Understanding of Wealth
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tags: [why,digital_twin]
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category: [twin]
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image: ./a_better_understanding_of_wealth.jpg
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image_caption: a better understanding of wealth
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excerpt: Wealth is more than the accumulation of money and resources.
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authors: [alexandre_hannelas]
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created: 2021-01-27
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---
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# A better understanding of wealth
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<br>
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Wealth is more than the accumulation of money and resources. It can be generated in ways other than through conventional financial means. The financial justice warrior, Bernard Liataer, highlighted that to capture the wealth of our societies, our culture and our environments, we have to pay heed to the notion of wealth as well-being.
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<br>
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But how do we obtain that well-being? We all know the answer to this question – we have a sense of well-being when all of our needs are met. It is not just the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter but also the need to be a creative participant in our community, have a voice in our own destiny, and pursue our own spiritual development unhindered by social sanction. Developing real wealth implies making choices that enable all members of the community to attain well-being. Achieving sustainable wealth implies meeting the present's needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
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<br>
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Digital Twin has been created while taking into consideration the different types of community capital that need to be achieved to create real wealth:
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<br>
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1. Natural Capital - It includes the community environment that produces more assets. Our today's economies failed to measure, understand and account for the true value of nature's riches - clean air and water, soil and pollination for food, the social, intrinsic and spiritual values of natural beauty. Digital Twin will be the tool for us to place a proper value on Natural capital finally.
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<br>
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2. Technological Capital – It includes how we harness our intellectual resources to create tools, systems, machines, arts, skills, and materials designed to improve our lives. This is what Digital Twin is all about - providing the required technology to enhance our lives and those of our communities' members through collective efforts and intelligence. Digital Twin is only the foundation for this future global well-being. People will support education and creativity throughout the world and give access to material information required to create additional innovative technologies.
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<br>
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3. Social Capital – It recognizes the economic importance of all the ways we are connected: the relationships, our networks and values we share and the cooperative systems, and all its different components we use for interacting. Nowadays, our social capital is threatened through the repetitive act of violence, betrayal of trust, exclusion or less sharing and caring towards our fellow humans. Digital Twin has been created to encourage the easy sharing and exchange of resources and cooperate with each other on a platform.
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4. Historical and Cultural Capital – Through history, we have learned, and now we are transmitting our cultural understanding and recommendation about the economic and financial system to others through an open-source, public and transparent peer-to-peer exchange protocol.
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5. Human Capital – It includes all capabilities that people have to learn, invent, create, work, care for each other, and contribute to the community. This is the reason why Digital Twin has been created - A project to benefit us all.
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<br>
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6. Financial Capital – It is the creation of real wealth through the availability of liquidity resources through a multi-currency system and Savings & Investments made by individuals and institutions. By strengthening and increasing this type of capital, our peer-to-peer platform believes that it is the obvious path to a successful economic development.
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<br>
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All of these forms of capital produce the critical flows of assets through the economic system. Capital is the foundation, the reproductive system, the greenhouse that grows a healthy economy. This has been one of the fundamental beliefs of Digital Twin - For the well-being of worldwide communities.
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---
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id: a_different_approach_to_blockchain
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title: Not your average blockchain project
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tags: [digital_twin,data,why]
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category: []
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image: ./a_different_approach_to_blockchain.png
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image_caption: a different approach to blockchain
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excerpt: Sometimes we're compared to blockchain projects. We love the blockchain but that's just not who we are.
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authors: [sacha_obeegadoo]
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created: 2021-04-20
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---
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<br/>
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Sometimes we're compared to blockchain projects. We love blockchains and have many partners there – CasperLabs, DigiByte, Polygon, and Dash, to name a few – but that's just not what we are. Here's a few ways we are different than the "typical" blockchain project.
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## ThreeFold is actually much more than a blockchain
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ThreeFold is not actually even a blockchain project, rather it uses blockchain technology by combining it with other cutting-edge solutions. It's way more that just a blockchain alternative to a public cloud. <!-- -->ThreeFold started everything from scratch – built a super-lightweight and shell-less operating system, and a fully autonomous (self-driving and self-healing) architecture to enable a true peer-to-peer infrastructure. With zero intermediaries on the ThreeFold Grid, that leads to high efficiency and minimum complexity.<!-- -->
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The blockchain database (BCDB) acts as a registry for the workloads on the Threefold Grid. Workloads can only be accessed and managed with the private key of the data owner. The BCDB can prove to any party that their workloads are executed exactly as intended and that their data is untouched.
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In most distributed systems, data is stored multiple times to guarantee redundancy. This leads to a lot of unnecessary overhead and is also not the most secure mechanism. ThreeFold uses a dispersed storage algorithm to store the workloads on the ThreeFold Grid. <!-- -->The dispersed storage algorithm breaks data into shards and stores them on different nodes.<!-- --> This enables two things – first, performance efficiency (no need for consensus to run compute and storage) and second, energy efficiency (as there’s no more need for data duplication).
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*As mentioned up top, we have many partners in the space and we are working with them to bring true decentralization to their blockchains.*
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## ThreeFold had no ICO nor IEO. It pre-farmed its tokens
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ThreeFold didn’t have an ICO or IEO. ICOs and IEOs are fundraising schemes for blockchains to sell tokens to investors either directly (ICO) or through regulated exchanges (IEO). Instead, ThreeFold pre-farmed (ThreeFold’s sustainable alternative to mining) its tokens prior to going to the market and listed them on several exchanges, public and decentralized.
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This allowed ThreeFold to incentivize its early contributors, while also securing the ongoing development of the project until the launch of the Threefold Grid 2.0 in April 2020. Pre-mining is also an organic approach to the market, in line with ThreeFold’s values and vision of delivering products over using hype.
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## Product over Hype
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In some cases, ICOs and IEOs were surrounded with hype. It is always very hard to judge the ability of a project to deliver its promises through a white paper.
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Instead of fundraising with a white paper, the technological development remained the primary focus. For 4 years, ThreeFold developed the whole technology stack, starting with an operating-system built from scratch to the autonomous smart contract and virtual system administrator technology that enables a fully-autonomous peer-to-peer Cloud.
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In 2020, ThreeFold held the public launch of the ThreeFold Token on Liquid Exchange. At that time, the ThreeFold Grid was already live in its 2nd version.
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<br/>
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Today, you can go through the whole Threefold Universe and find ready-to-use products. You can participate in growing the world’s most advanced peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure, or use the peer-to-peer compute and storage capacity available on the P2P Cloud.
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---
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id: actually_you_are_the_product
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title: Actually, you are the product
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tags: [digital_twin, data, why]
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category: [twin]
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image: ./actually_you_are_the_product.png
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image_caption: actually you are the product
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excerpt: Now more than ever with this global pandemic happening since late 2019, our lives are being shaped by our interaction with the digital world
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authors: [alexandre_hannelas]
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created: 2021-01-27
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---
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# Actually, you are the product
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<br>
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Now more than ever with this global pandemic happening since late 2019, our lives are being shaped by our interaction with the digital world - work meetings on Zoom followed by Skype or Messenger Video Call with your family before a quick run with your favourite running app and a google search for your next meal. Technologies and services offer us a lot and greatly improve our daily lives. But what's the real cost of these tools we rely on so much?
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A lot of companies, especially those offering free services, collect data about you. It might be data you knowingly and willingly share to enjoy the benefits of the service (name, age, email address,..) or data that you might not realize you are sharing, like your approximate location through your IP address or your social network identifier or apps accessing your contacts.
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While some of this data, and its collection, may appear harmless to some, what happens behind the scenes is a real source of concern as the data collection is only the first step in a long and opaque process. Adtech companies combine this information and create an assumed picture of you that we may call a digital doppelganger - Your "digital secret identity". Actually, you may have hundreds or thousands of different doppelgangers held by companies you've never heard of.
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Our data are so valuable that big tech giants spend so much time and effort building the platform that is useful for us and giving those platforms to us for free. Well, this data is collected for a single purpose: to better predict your behaviour and target you with ads.
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Real example:
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Imagine a person who has never talked about their political views online, never shared anything related to politics, never donated any money and never mentioned anything even in their private emails. Now the algorithms models that had been developed can analyse his/her Facebook likes or the music he/she listen to and with high accuracy can predict their political affiliation, and then being the target of unnecessary ads.
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P.S: This is not only for political affiliation. It stands out for every products and service using these marketing tools.
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Technology isn't just hardware and software; it's a fundamental component of every aspect of our lives and society. Inventions need to be created with social impact in mind. The invention should not be driven solely by profit, and the long-term effects should not be ignored and unknowable.
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If you are not paying for it, you are not the customer. You are the product being sold. It's a powerful phrase, a modern dialogue to get people rethinking their relationship to social media.
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With Digital Twin, regain your freedom where you will live your digital life securely and privately. Now, you will have one and unique digital identity to interact in human-to-human way with your peers, edit, manage and store your documents, publish your web and make automatic payments.
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With Digital Twin, only you own your data and no one else.
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---
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id: an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid
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title: "Building a New Internet From the Ground Up – Part 1: Introduction"
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tags: [threefold_grid,technology,peer_to_peer]
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category: [foundation,farming,cloud]
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image: ./an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid.png
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image_caption: The ThreeFold Grid Peer-to-Peer Technology
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excerpt: The first episode in an approachable series on the inner workings of the ThreeFold Grid.
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authors: [scott_yeager]
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created: 2021-07-19
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---
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## An Intro to the ThreeFold Grid
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If you are a farmer or member of the ThreeFold community, you may be wondering about the capacity provided by the ThreeFold Grid and how it's relevant to individuals and businesses who currently rely on centralized corporate clouds. This can be hard to imagine, because the back end infrastructure that makes all of our apps and services tick is generally invisible to us.
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This piece will be the first in a series where I'll be working to understand what the technical components are and how ThreeFold provides an alternative with distinct benefits for individuals, businesses, and for the planet as a whole. But don't worry, we'll start from the ground level and build up understanding in a way that's accessible to everyone.
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## Infrastructure for a New Internet
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So, what is the internet? In short, it is a network of interconnected devices that facilitates communication and commerce. These devices include our mobile phones and personal computers, but also the servers that store and process data to provide the end experiences we enjoy. Currently the vast majority of these servers live in massive data centers controlled by a handful of corporations. ThreeFold is changing this, by allowing anyone to connect computational and storage capacity to an open network that is available for all to use, known as the ThreeFold Grid. Our farmers do include some data centers operating on a smaller scale than major cloud providers, and also many individuals connecting nodes at their home or office all over the world.
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On the ThreeFold Grid, servers are known as 3Nodes. A 3Node can be pretty much any modern computer system, offering capacity by running the Zero OS operating system. This is a major distinguishing factor, both from the traditional cloud computing world and also from other projects working to create decentralized networks in this space.
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## The OS for a Next Generation Cloud
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By starting from the operating system level, ThreeFold is able to provide a network with much stronger security and greater efficiency than anything that came before. Zero OS includes a collection of components, known as "primitives", which provide developers with everything they need. These primitives can be used to migrate existing applications from the legacy cloud and also to create new solutions that leverage the Grid’s capacity in unique ways.
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We're all familiar with operating systems like Windows and MacOS that provide an interface to applications on our personal computers. The OS interacts with the underlying hardware to expose its capabilities in a way that's useful for both the software it hosts and also the humans who utilize it. For example, when you launch an app on your phone, it is the OS that's responsible for connecting it to data networks and providing access to peripherals like cameras or microphones. Things are a little different in the world of servers, where rather than through direct interactions, users benefit through the services provided to the applications we use.
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To extend the example, when you open a messaging app it will connect to a server somewhere to check for new messages and relay any messages you are sending to the recipient. Here we can see a central issue that has inspired the design of ThreeFold’s technology: when our messages pass through servers controlled by others, it creates an open door for surveillance of all kinds.
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ThreeFold farmers, on the other hand, have no administrative access to their nodes. Furthermore, each component offered by the ThreeFold Grid is built with the intention of allowing for secure and private storage, processing, and transmission of information. Of course, sharing is absolutely possible, but only when the creator of data or content chooses for it to happen.
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## Three Essential Resources
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In the world of cloud computing, we speak of three basic resources provided by servers: compute, storage, and network. The ThreeFold Grid provides various primitives in each of these categories, to fulfill all the same needs served by centralized cloud providers. While our offerings have the special properties discussed above, they are also highly compatible with the most popular tools and protocols currently used in the industry. This makes it relatively simple to migrate the back end applications, also known as "workloads", that provide a kind of connective tissue for all of the digital experiences we enjoy on a daily basis.
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Workloads are pieces of software that provide services. If you upload a file to some cloud storage service, there could be a number of individual workloads orchestrated together in order to ensure the data you want to save is successfully transmitted to and stored in the back end system. We can understand the need for each kind of capacity by looking at the journey that your file might take in such a scenario. Starting on your device, a network connection, some processing, and finally storage capacity are all involved in providing the conditions that allow you to retrieve that file later.
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## Network
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Networking takes place over cellular connections, wifi, and wired internet lines to move data from one place to another. For our purposes here, those details aren't so important—we'll focus on what happens once communication is completed by whatever means.
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When you connect to the cloud storage service, there are network workloads that transmit your data to the appropriate services that process and store it. This might consist of some routing and also authentication that ensures that you and only you access the files that are associated with your account. On the Grid, we provide primitives for secure peer to peer communication and also for allowing public access to back end services.
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## Compute
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Compute is what happens with data once it reaches its destination. Computers are mostly just fancy adding machines that take numbers and turn them into other numbers according to a set of specifications, which we call software. In our example, the compute step might involve compressing the information so it takes up less space and also deriving some useful statistics like the file's original size.
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Of course, there are many details we're glossing over here, and the compute resources are ultimately responsible for providing much of our end user experience and the interactivity of the apps we utilize. 3Nodes offer a compute environment that natively runs the vast majority of workloads in use today.
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## Storage
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Storage, of course, is the disk space where data resides. It can be a little strange to think about, actually, that all of the information you've stored online actually has at least one physical location where it exists as many small electrical charges. On the Grid, application developers can access the disks of nodes directly, in a way that's optimized for energy efficiency.
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We also have more advanced storage solutions that offer unparalleled security and low overhead redundancy, giving users the best possible guarantee that only they have access to their data and that it will actually be there when they go to retrieve it.
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## Looking Forward
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Taken together, network, storage, and compute are the raw elements that give life to the internet we know and love. On the ThreeFold Grid, these elements are expressed in a way that's both familiar for developers but also pushes the limits of what is possible in terms of technical evolution.
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<br>
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Thanks so much for joining me on this introductory overview of what the Grid provides. Please join me next time for a deeper dive on some of what we've covered and more specifics about how ThreeFold technology represents a quantum leap for cloud computing.
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---
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id: artheon_blog_one
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title: "Art & Culture in VR: Coming to the ThreeFold Grid"
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tags: [partner, peer_to_peer, update]
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category: [farming, cloud, foundation, aci, twin]
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image: ./artheon_blog_one.png
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image_caption: ThreeFold and Artheon
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excerpt: Taking a deeper look at the Artheon partnership and where we are headed together.
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authors: [sam_taggart]
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created: 2021-08-11
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---
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Last year at a ThreeFold gathering, a few of us on the team had the pleasure to meet a man named Vasily, a creative mind with a big heart and proud founder of Artheon. Artheon, in its essence, was a virtual reality museum experience focused on bringing fine art and culture from around the world directly to people. The concept was immediately captivating, and the demo brought it to life for us. The graphics were already solid, and being able to walk around a museum and interact with the artwork was a unique experience to say the least. We talked about the implications and his greater vision around access and education, and it was very clear we needed to partner up. Not long after, Artheon and ThreeFold joined forces.
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## So what is the partnership all about?
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Together with ThreeFold, Artheon aims to create the world's largest open art database – made for everyone, and owned by everyone. We will provide access to art and cultural heritage to people around the world, without borders. Not just access, but a high-quality and high-resolution virtual reality experience where people can really immerse themselves in their surrounding environment. With Artheon, people can now even touch and hold paintings or artifacts, something that would clearly not be possible in real life. And while today, only a select few (relative to the total global population) have the opportunity to travel and to experience museums and cultural & sacred sites, Artheon will change that!
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It's not only about experience, though, it's also about community and education and providing a more equal access to art and cultural objects. We'll bring together a global community of museums, artists, and art seekers who can not only enjoy, but also teach and learn about the art and cultural objects housed within the Artheon universe. For Artheon, it's imperative
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that people are able to access information about the artists and the art itself, and then make and share their own perceptions as well. No need or pressure to follow the direction of the current system's ideology. This is a different angle from how we traditionally learn at school, where narrow or accepted views and concepts are imposed upon us. A key aim of Artheon is to bring different perspectives through collective, participatory, and experiental teaching and learning.
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Looking ahead, the vision is that people will be able to create their own virtual spaces and expose them on Artheon. They can create something from scratch or even re-imagine a historical site as it was long ago and share it with the community.
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## How does ThreeFold benefit Artheon?
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From the start, there was a clear connection between Artheon and ThreeFold from a vision, values, and ethos perspective. But there are also some more specific reasons why Artheon chose and benefits from ThreeFold, which mainly revolve around the decentralized nature of the ThreeFold Grid.
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Virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) provide significant benefits to our new digital reality. These technologies open new ways of sharing information in areas such as the arts in the case of Artheon, allowing for upgraded and immersive experiences for users.
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Decentralized clouds have been associated with the promise of new digital applications and services that come with a hyper-connected life. Because the graphics of VR/AR experiences require heavy rendering, on-device processes are augmented by splitting workloads between the VR/AR device and a decentralized cloud. So, graphics rendering on a decentralized cloud like what the ThreeFold Grid provides would be significantly improved by achieving a much lower latency. Another advantage of the ThreeFold Grid is that it provides an extremely high level of security and privacy, empowering Artheon and its users with real data sovereignty.
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And finally, Artheon experienced an unfortunate event earlier this summer where their servers suffered from an intense heat wave and essentially burned up. There was no backup, and this would have been catastrophic in the scenario of them having millions of users. Good thing they aren't live yet, but this is a great example of how centralized models fail. With a decentralized infrastructure like ThreeFold, this type of situation would not have occured, as data would be hosted on many locations.
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So, by distributing the computing power closer to their users, a VR experience such as Artheon would not only improve their latency speed, security, and privacy, but also the resilience of their business model.
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## What is the status of Artheon (and its partnership with ThreeFold)?
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Over the past year, Artheon has been making incredible improvements to the graphics and experience, and adding as many new pieces of art as possible into the universe. As you can imagine, the possibilities really are endless, but here are some of the milestones planned for the rest of this year:
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- Planning to add partial DLC (downloadable content) support and photogrammetry-scanned locations for users to experience
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- New UI for desktop (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
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- Implementation of desired social features such as follower and friend system
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- People will be able to see who of their friends or people they follow are online – from that, they can connect to a server and join them to share experiences together
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- People will also be able to see how many people are online at the moment and where they are located on the globe (if permissions are allowed)
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- Allow the possibility for museums to host free or closed paid exhibitions
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- Artheon will be hosted on the ThreeFold Grid!
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<br/>
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## What can you do now to get involved?
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|
||||
If you're reading this section, we're thrilled you are interested in what is happening with Artheon! We are, too! As Artheon is not yet live, the best option for you is to join [the Artheon Early Access chat on Telegram](https://t.me/artheon) where you can stay tuned there for updates and ask questions directly to Artheon's creators and contributors.
|
||||
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: big_datacenter_myth
|
||||
title: Datacenter Myths
|
||||
tags: [technology,threefold_grid_,why]
|
||||
category: [farming,cloud,foundation,aci]
|
||||
image: ./big_datacenter_myth.png
|
||||
image_caption: internet servers
|
||||
excerpt: Hyperscale realities are very different to what most people think. Myth 1 - Bigger data centers are more efficient.
|
||||
authors: [andreas_hartl]
|
||||
created: 2017-10-12
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Hyperscale realities are very different from what most people think
|
||||
|
||||
### Myth 1: Bigger data centers are more efficient
|
||||
|
||||
There are advantages in building larger-scale data centers, like economies of scale and sheer bulk buying power, but these are not as significant as what people think. The average cost per rack in a hyper-scale data center is $20-35K USD including all energy requirements and safety systems. The cost of hardware per rack is around the $200-300K USD mark.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
What is often forgotten is that anything that is of enormous scale and highly concentrated comes with complexity and specific problems to deal with. For example. resource requirements such as investment, operational costs, knowledge, and people increase significantly with size.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
In reality, keeping things simple, small, and distributed is much more cost-effective than large complex environments.
|
||||
|
||||
### Myth 2: Big data centers can be sustainable
|
||||
|
||||
The carbon footprint of a big data center is enormous. To improve the power usage effectiveness (PUE) of most data center farmers have adopted wind, hydro, and/or solar power technologies, which indeed helps drop their PUE by an estimated 20%. But is this leading to more sustainability?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
This 20% looks great on paper and in the farmers' corporate social responsibility reports. However, it just represents an improvement in the cooling technology and sourcing of energy. It doesn't actually impact the energy consumed by the equipment that runs in their data centers (servers, storage chassis, physical disks, etc.) which is the equipment responsible for the carbon footprint. PUE only refers to overhead power consumption, i.e. cooling the facility, opening, and closing doors, maintaining power security systems, etc.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Real improvement lies in deploying technologies that actually consume less power to deliver the actual Internet capacity to run workloads, real CPU chassis, physical disks, and storage cabinets. Improving on how hardware is being more effectively used can have an impact of up to a thousand percent and lead to ten times more power-efficiency.
|
||||
|
||||
### Myth 3: Redundant systems have better uptime
|
||||
|
||||
A lot of us believe that systems need redundancy mechanisms to improve their operational uptime and reliability. While it may make sense to IT experts, let's translate this for the non-IT world?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
To make a car more reliable we add redundancy (as we do in IT). So for the risk of having a puncture, we add one extra tire for all the tires we use continuously. This adds 4 extra tires to the car. Then a decision needs to be made: Do we put those tires in a structure where they are always running along with the primary tires or do we choose not to have them "online" all the time, wearing and tearing in the same way as the primary tires?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Building such a system would take a large number of engineers to come up with a solution, and would change cars as we know them. Wouldn't it make more sense to think outside the box and solve the root of the problem by making tires un-deflatable?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The IT industry has gone overboard with the concept of redundancy, having forgotten to look at the root cause issues. This has spawned a whole new industry of itself, which has a financial interest in creating complicated and expensive redundant systems.
|
||||
|
||||
### Myth 4: Big companies optimize better
|
||||
|
||||
Big companies with a certain track record will know better how to optimize as they have more people and resources.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
At first glance, this sounds logical, but in reality, ninety percent of the innovation within the IT space comes from startups. The giant IT companies have a heritage they hardly can overcome. They are locked in old infrastructure designs, and building outside of that infrastructure would be costly, timely, and probably put the breaks on their businesses.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Real innovation gives way to fix the core symptoms rather than taking the problem pain-killer approach.
|
||||
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: bitcoin_threefold
|
||||
title: What Bitcoin did to money, ThreeFold is doing to the Internet
|
||||
tags: [peer_to_peer,threefold_grid,blockchain,technology]
|
||||
category: [foundation]
|
||||
image: ./bitcoin_threefold.png
|
||||
image_caption: Bitcoin ThreeFold
|
||||
excerpt: As the Internet is struggling with issues due to its centralized model, ThreeFold spent the last six years developing a new open-source peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure from the ground up.
|
||||
authors: [sacha_obeegadoo]
|
||||
created: 2022-03-11
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The world’s most famous cryptocurrency Bitcoin, established in 2008 by a person or group of people under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto, is changing the world. With 106 million people owning Bitcoin after only twelve years, the growth momentum is undeniable. The popularity of Bitcoin is transforming monetary systems at large, and establishing trust through irrefutable records.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Unlike traditional financial technologies, Bitcoin provides total control over one’s funds without the intervention of a central authority, such as a bank or government. Bitcoin is decentralized and spread across many computers worldwide. It’s not a company, it’s a protocol. No single person or entity can control, manipulate or influence the network’s operations. There has never been a hack at the network level since Bitcoin launched in 2009.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Bitcoin sparked a revolution towards decentralized and peer-to-peer systems. The advantage of such systems is that they operate without central authority, can be audited by anyone, and push for collaboration as their designs are public, inviting everyone to take part.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
New systems built from scratch, like DeFi (decentralized finance), don't have the problem of legacy firms, but they face challenges in scaling towards mass adoption. Most of the so-called ‘Web3’ solutions provide the illusion of decentralization but are actually still quite centralized. Others still have to prove their scalability, security and accessibility to become real alternatives to the current tech giants. While that may change, it's not a given considering the clear limitations they have to overcome.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The Internet represents the second largest and fastest growing economy in the world. With plenty of technologies emerging such as Blockchain, Web3, IoT and the Metaverse to name just a few, the infrastructure that holds our digital world together is becoming more important than ever before. However, the Internet is struggling with many issues related to its incredibly centralized model, including a lack of resiliency and scalability, as well as the loss of its neutrality. And these issues keep intensifying.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Amazon Web Services alone hosts more than a third of the Internet today. Adding in a few other tech giants, we essentially end up with only four or five companies controlling the majority of the Internet. While the US government has been debating potential regulations and even breakups of big tech corporations, other governments like China or Russia are already regulating certain aspects of the web. However, most regulations have failed to achieve the desired outcomes and are unable to keep up with the pace of innovations.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
There’s a saying that goes, “If it is free, you are the product.” Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are known for being completely free of charge. Their business models and profits are based on collecting, analyzing and selling their users’ data. [Studies](https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health) now show that high social media use correlates with self-reported declines in mental and physical health. The same platforms are being manipulated by private companies that spread political disinformation and polarity. According to internal Facebook [reports](https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/26/21270659/facebook-division-news-feed-algorithms), 64% of the people that joined extremist groups did so because algorithms steered them there. In an increasingly interconnected world where people are surrounded by smart devices that collect their data 24/7, data ownership and control has never been more important than anything else.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Since the launch of Bitcoin, many cryptocurrencies have rallied the movement of decentralization, but only a handful hold technology that can bring true impact. What if there was one project out there that could apply the peer-to-peer and open-source fundamentals to the Internet? ThreeFold spent the last six years developing a new Internet infrastructure from the ground up consisting of a new decentralized operating system, a quantum safe storage system, a planetary mesh network and a distributed edge cloud solution.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold builds on 20+ years of technological innovations in the cloud automation, Internet storage and cybersecurity markets brought by its co-founders such as Kristof de Spiegeleer – a serial entrepreneur whose technologies have been acquired by Oracle, Verizon, Data Symantec and others. Together, the ThreeFold co-founders decided to start from scratch as they realized it was the only way to achieve a peer-to-peer and open-source digital backbone that secure, private and self-sovereign.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
According to de Spiegeleer, “ThreeFold holds more technology than all the Web3 space combined.” ThreeFold’s decentralized operating system can run on any computer, including servers, desktops and laptops, allowing anyone to connect hardware from their home or office to the peer-to-peer Internet."
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
But what differentiates ThreeFold the most from the crowd is that it’s a project anchored in it’s values and vision. The project always remained far from fake hype, market making or FOMO games like the large majority of crypto projects. With a low market cap today, and its ability to transform the Internet at large, the time to buy [ThreeFold Tokens (TFT)](https://threefold.io/tft) is now. “We’re on the verge of signing our first countries and also have use cases across Real Estate, Education, Supply Chain, Metaverse and Blockchain coming up this year,” said de Spiegeleer, “So, we believe we are looking at tens of millions of users on ThreeFold in the upcoming years."
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Stake your claim in the decentralized Internet by [hosting the Internet](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__farming_intro) or [getting TFT](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tokens/threefold__how_to_buy) today.
|
||||
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|
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: threefold_foundation_34
|
||||
title: Solving the Blockchain Dilemma
|
||||
tags: [technology,threefold_grid,blockchain]
|
||||
category: [tech, grid]
|
||||
image: ./blockchain_dilemma.png
|
||||
image_caption: blockchain
|
||||
excerpt: Blockchain technology has the power to change the world of IT. There are a huge number of new initiatives using blockchain technology around the world, with countless use cases.
|
||||
authors: [kristof_de_spiegeleer]
|
||||
created: 2018-03-07
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Introduction
|
||||
|
||||
Blockchain technology has the power to change the world of IT. There are a huge number of new initiatives using blockchain technology around the world, with countless use cases.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
In general, there are two types of blockchains: proof of work blockchains and proof of stake blockchains. They are consensus algorithms on how transactions are verified and added to the ledger (forever, as blockchains provide an immutable record of events). More on these two types of blockchains below.
|
||||
|
||||
## Blockchain Basics
|
||||
|
||||
A blockchain is, as the word says, a chain of blocks of information. These “blocks” contain information on transactions. For instance transactions like the transfer of value of a digital currency (token) from wallet A to wallet B. The “chain” aspect comes when part of the information is stored in a block as a link to the previous block (a unique number). This is a very simple representation of what a blockchain is.
|
||||
|
||||
## Private, Permissioned or Public Blockchains
|
||||
|
||||
The complexity around a blockchain comes from how the blockchain software is run. The software can run in two different ways: a small (or large) number of nodes controlled by one single entity (private blockchain) a person or a company, or a large (or small) number of nodes controlled by multiple entities (public) that do not know each other and where anyone interested to run a blockchain node can join.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
By running blockchain software under the supervision of one entity (private, centralized) you can quite easily make sure the information stored in the blockchain (transactions) are not tempered with by only operating a small number of nodes and deploying them in very safe physical locations (private data-centers, vaults, basements of offices, etc). A private blockchain does not allow unknown entities to join and run the blockchain software.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
A permissioned blockchain is operated by known entities such as stakeholders of a given industry. It is a mix of both private and public blockchains. In this type of blockchain network, a participant may not need permission to join the network but needs permission to transact with another network participant.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
A public blockchain allows anyone to join the blockchain operation and create a new blockchain node. The blockchain is run by multiple entities (decentralized, public) that have no relationship nor knowledge about each other
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
For these three types of blockchains, there are different mechanisms to protect and guarantee the validity of transactions and make them tamper-proof.
|
||||
|
||||
## Private Data and Anonymous or Pseudo-Anonymous Data?
|
||||
|
||||
For private blockchains, it is straightforward to see that all data that is stored on private blockchains is private and creates 100% anonymity for its users. The only entity or person that has access to information stored on the blockchain is the blockchain operator. This is comparable to how a bank operates. The bank knows everything about all of its customers and the customers only know about themselves - the non-bank customers do not know a thing.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
On a public blockchain, people can join and operate a blockchain node on which all information of that blockchain is stored. While private blockchains get their security from putting their blockchain nodes in secure buildings operated by trusted people a public blockchain achieves its security from having a large number of nodes that have the same data replicated over and over. A consensus algorithm is required in order to accept new data (new blocks) to the chain.
|
||||
|
||||
## Consensus Protocols for Public Blockchains
|
||||
|
||||
The main consensus protocols used today are Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake.
|
||||
|
||||
### Proof of Work (High Cost in Compute and Energy)
|
||||
|
||||
The proof of work consensus protocol is best explained as a race. The consensus is achieved by having all participating nodes solve a puzzle. The puzzle is a one-way translation of an amount of information consisting of the following items:
|
||||
- All the data that present the transactions in the block - all the data is known by all participating nodes
|
||||
- The number of the previous block. Remember a blockchain links blocks of information together.
|
||||
- A (variable) number. This number is the part that can be changed.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The “work” is done by changing the variable number and see what the translation of all data brings. The translation of all this data is a new number, and the requirement is that that number needs to be smaller than what is known as the “difficulty level”. The difficulty level number has a fixed amount of numbers but when the first digits of the number are zero the overall number is lower. So a higher difficulty is built by having a number that has more zeros at the start in the difficulty number.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Once the block is completed, all nodes will get the complete block of transactional data, everyone knows the previous block number and will start to change the variable number to get output from the puzzle algorithms comparing it to the required difficulty level.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The node that will find the number first will announce that it has found a solution matching the required difficulty level and the variable number of shared with all nodes in the network to verify that his solution is correct. If a large portion of the nodes has verified the solution to be valid the solution is accepted and the block is added to the chain because consensus is reached.
|
||||
|
||||
### Proof of (Block) Stake (Low Cost in Compute and Energy)
|
||||
|
||||
With proof of stake consensus algorithms, the consensus algorithm does not solve puzzles in a race to be the first. The first step is to identify and allow a certain number of nodes to be part of the blockchain. This is called a permissioned blockchain because you need to have permission to partake. This permission is given by distributing stakes.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Proof of Stake consensus mechanism is solving a puzzle, but the puzzle contains only static elements - not variables - based on different characteristics:
|
||||
- The block number
|
||||
- The content (part) of blocks a long time ago (>2000 blocks)
|
||||
- The transaction number (between the first and the last transaction) in the block of the stake transfer transaction all participating nodes needs to
|
||||
- The current timestamp
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
All these numbers are fixed but the time stamp and every node in the block stake blockchain will solve this puzzle every second until the output of this puzzle matches the required difficulty level.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
To make sure the one node that has solved the puzzle to match the difficulty level cannot introduce information in the block which allows him to tamper with the next blocks this node cannot use his used stake for a period amount of time for creating new blocks.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The fact that the puzzle-solving includes historic block data and once a node is assigned to create the block and put it on a chain will not be able to use that block state for a period of time makes it very costly to try to tamper with the content of the block (and the next blocks).
|
||||
|
||||
## The Blockchain Dilemma Problem
|
||||
|
||||
Public and private blockchains have their specific advantages and disadvantages and are very good for specific use cases - but not all. If we list the specifics of both we end up with a table like this:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
| * | Public Blockchains | Private Blockchains |
|
||||
|---|---|---|
|
||||
| Security | Provided by having a large number of nodes running it | Provided by having them in secure controlled places |
|
||||
| People | Build, managed and controlled by unknown people | Build, managed, and controlled by known people |
|
||||
| Speed | Slow by design - all data needs to be copied to all of them | Fast(er) and more efficient by design - a smaller number of copies of the blockchain data |
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
So what if we want to have a secure, performant, and easy to manage blockchain solution? This is not what can be delivered by either type of blockchains. We have to create a new type of blockchain that combines the best of both worlds and delivers.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The key element in finding a solution for this problem is to take the human element out of it. The fact that when you deploy blockchains solutions in locations without human intervention means that you need to create a different deployment mechanism that takes out people touching code, compiling code, deploying code, and in the end operating the machine in which the code runs.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
A way to get around the trusted people problem is to select a platform on which software can be downloaded, compiled, installed, and operated without human intervention. Such a platform is a unique platform that has not been developed and launched. Such a platform would have to have the following characteristics. To make this system work and solve the blockchain dilemma we need to have three components working together in an orchestrated way. The three elements are:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
- **Zero-OS**: A (simple) operating system that does not allow local and remote logins - a closed operating system that receives instructions to launch or kill applications. This operating system needs to be stateless to keep as simple as possible:
|
||||
- **3Bot**: A virtual system administrator that is able to perform system administration tasks to make the system operate, self-heal and execute instructions from authenticated and authorized sources.
|
||||
- **Zero-Chain**: A ledger or database to store information with regards to authentication, operational and financial transactions.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
This system architecture allows for authenticated and trusted virtual system administrators to download, compile and deploy software on a grid of secure Zero-OS nodes with an immutable ledger that records all transactions, operational and financial. This presents a platform on which a public (permissioned) blockchain can be run securely without requiring trusted people to operate the nodes.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
In such architecture, we can build and deploy a high-performance secure blockchain which are the combined benefits of a public and private blockchain.
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,56 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: blockheating_intro
|
||||
title: This ThreeFold Farm Keeps Veggies Warm
|
||||
tags: [why, peer_to_peer, digital_twin, technology]
|
||||
category: [farming, cloud, foundation, aci, twin]
|
||||
image: ./blockheating_intro.png
|
||||
image_caption: Meet Blockheating
|
||||
excerpt: Somewhere in the Netherlands, a ThreeFold Farm is supporting the growth of vegetable crops such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.
|
||||
authors: [roel_van_sabben]
|
||||
created: 2021-07-23
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Somewhere in the Netherlands, a ThreeFold Farm is supporting the growth of vegetable crops such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. By directing the excess heat generated from the hardware operations to the greenhouse next door, they are able to achieve an incredible model that benefits both hardware and vegetables.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Jeroen Burks, CEO of Blockheating, tells us everything we need to know about their sustainable farming operations. As far as he can remember, Jeroen has always been a protagonist of the “no waste” approach. He started by recycling material previously used by the tech industry, mainly in the cloud market.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
"By default, most data center operations replace their power supplies every 3 years, no matter the state they are in. They are being replaced to counter any possible downtime."
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
By refurbishing and repurposing “old” power units from data centers, he gives them a second life as electric tractor chargers, lithium ION pack chargers, and more.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
"You just need to trick the unit into thinking it is still powering servers, add some cables here and there, and it is ready for duty."
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
His quest towards sustainability started when he was challenged on a pilot project. His friend had bought a new building and was looking for the most sustainable approach to heating it. Jeroen came up with the idea of putting two server racks in the basement and using the heat from that operation, to heat the offices and spaces above. While this project was a success, Jeroen realised that it could be way more efficient, if done with other structures.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
He quickly engaged with a second pilot project where he used two server racks to heat a small greenhouse. This model turned out to be a great combination, which benefited both hardware, as well as farming operations. And so sprouted ‘Blockheating’ -- a data center that provides heat for tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Why specifically these vegetables? Well, the Netherlands has a fair amount of greenhouses cultivating them, and these ‘veggies’ need that heat during summer nights.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Right now Blockheating has around 400 compute nodes with direct cooling that stores all the heat in a buffer throughout the day, which is then released into the greenhouses during the night hours.
|
||||
"By doing it the way we do, we grow the internet grid, help grow vegetables and curb fossil fuel usage – in carbon negative compute power!"
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Right now, Blockheating has a portion of their data center dedicated to ThreeFold Farming for a few reasons:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
- The alignment of values is huge
|
||||
- ThreeFold Farming is easy to manage
|
||||
- ThreeFold Farming counters wasteful behavior of internet resources, so it's a triple win
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Blockheating envisions to scale up-to three data centers of this kind, in an interconnected way, with a fiber ring between them. By doing so, they will be able to increase their offering and have a larger impact on countering the wasteful patterns of the cloud industry.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
ThreeFold is proud to have Blockheating as a ‘State-of-the-Art’ Farmer and Partner, and hopes to see many more people and companies inspired by Blockheating around the world, to expand the ‘People’s Internet’ in a regenerative way.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Find out more about Blockheating here: [https://blockheating.com/](https://blockheating.com/)
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Find out more about our partners here: [https://threefold.io/partners](https://threefold.io/partners)
|
||||
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|
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: bridges_connecting_threefold_ecosystem
|
||||
title: "Bridges Connecting the ThreeFold Ecosystem to External Networks"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, threefold_cloud, technology, blockchain, update]
|
||||
category: [foundation, cloud, technology]
|
||||
image: ./bridges_connecting_threefold_ecosystem.png
|
||||
image_caption: Bridges Connecting the ThreeFold Ecosystem to External Networks
|
||||
excerpt: Since the launch of ThreeFold Grid 3.0, TFT is now available on three blockchains – Stellar, Binance Smart Chain and the Substrate-based ThreeFold Blockchain (aka TF Chain).
|
||||
authors: [hannah_cordes]
|
||||
created: 2022-01-10
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Wondering how to switch between blockchains? Cross-chain bridges allow you to easily transfer TFT from one blockchain to another.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Since the launch of [ThreeFold Grid](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__threefold_grid) 3.0, [TFT](https://threefold.io/tft) has been available on three blockchains – Stellar, Binance Smart Chain and the Substrate-based ThreeFold Blockchain (aka TF Chain).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
There are already active bridges that connect Stellar to Binance Smart Chain and [TF Chain](https://threefold.io/blog/post/tf_chain/), improving the accessibility and availability of TFT, while also connecting the ThreeFold ecosystem to external blockchain networks.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Learn more about TF Chain in our blog post [here](https://threefold.io/blog/post/tf_chain/).
|
||||
|
||||
## What are bridges and why are they important?
|
||||
|
||||
The concept of bridges in crypto is similar to a bridge in the physical world. Bridges in the real world simply connect two different locations and communities so that the people can travel back and forth and resources can be exchanged freely.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Similarly, using bridges in blockchain allows users to easily transfer tokens and other crypto assets between two or more networks – regardless of the different protocols, tooling, and governance models these networks have. Simply put, a bridge ensures a secure interoperability between different blockchains.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold uses blockchain bridges to connect external blockchain networks to the ThreeFold ecosystem. The bridging mechanisms we’ve implemented allow TFT to be transferred securely between [different blockchains](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__money_blockchain_partity_link). Currently, we’ve established **two 2-way bridges**:
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
* Stellar <> Binance Smart Chain
|
||||
* Stellar <> TF Chain
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
But what is the difference between the 3 chains?
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
**[Stellar](https://www.stellar.org/?locale=en)** is an open-source network for storing and moving digital assets, and still remains the main blockchain for the minting of TFT and distribution of farming rewards. Until the launch of TF Chain with Grid 3.0, only TFT living on Stellar were accepted for the reservation of Internet capacity on the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
**[Binance Smart Chain](https://www.binance.org/en/smartChain)** (BSC) is a standalone, parallel Binance chain that is a leading DeFi ecosystem next to Ethereum. On BSC, TFT is implemented as a cross-chain asset, allowing anyone to [connect](https://bridge.bsc.threefold.io/) to the bridge using [Metamask](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tokens/threefold__tft_bsc_metamask) or [Trust Wallet](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold/#/tokens/threefold__threefold_wallets?id=the-threefold-connect-app) – the most popular Web 3 wallets in the world.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
**[TF Chain](https://threefold.io/tech/tf-chain)** was built on the [Substrate framework](https://substrate.io/) with the purpose of decentralizing user-farmer relationships on the ThreeFold Grid. It has its own native form of [TFT](https://threefold.io/tft), which can be bridged back and forth from Stellar-based TFT. This model will be implemented for other chains in the future, for interoperability and cross-chain features between blockchain and DeFi ecosystems and the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
|
||||
## What’s new with TF Chain?
|
||||
|
||||
TF Chain represents a leap forward for simplicity in payments for capacity reservations and a move towards greater decentralization of the systems that support the ThreeFold Grid. With the launch of [ThreeFold Grid 3.0](https://forum.threefold.io/t/what-is-new-in-tfgrid-3-0/1133), TF Chain became the official record of ThreeFold farms and nodes, and brought peer-to-peer [billing](https://forum.threefold.io/t/introducing-tf-chain-an-updated-billing-model/1277) based on smart contracts for workload deployments on the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
For now, minting will remain on Stellar but reservations of nodes and capacity on ThreeFold Grid 3.0 are already executed via [TF Chain](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__tfchain). In the future, minting will also also be handled over TF Chain, as the creation of a custom blockchain for our ThreeFold Grid gives us great flexibility and scalability moving forward.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Bridges were established between Stellar and TF Chain to facilitate payments, e.g. if you pay for a workload deployment in Stellar TFT, this payment needs to be bridged to TF Chain’s native TFT to fund the [smart contract](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__smartcontract_it).
|
||||
|
||||
### The two-way [bridge](https://bridge.bsc.threefold.io/) between Stellar & BSC
|
||||
|
||||
Until recently, the bridge between Stellar and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) was one-way only: from BSC to Stellar. Even though it was possible to transfer TFT from Stellar to BSC via [command line](https://github.com/threefoldfoundation/tft/blob/main/bsc/bridges/stellar/transfers.md), this was only an option for tech-savvy people. Now, you can also deposit TFT from Stellar to BSC using the bridge with a proper UI, as you can see in the image below.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
When depositing from TFT Stellar, **please be sure that both addresses and memo are as indicated** in the instructions or the TFT you transfer will be lost forever. To facilitate the process, a **QR code** is generated and can be scanned using the [ThreeFold Connect app](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold/#/tokens/threefold__threefold_connect), automatically filling in the right address and memo on your behalf.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
As Binance Smart Chain is a more expensive chain, **a fee of 50 TFT** will be automatically charged for the bridge from Stellar to BSC. Find the full **step-by-step guide** for the Stellar-BSC bridge [here](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tokens/threefold__tft_bsc_bridge).
|
||||
|
||||
## What’s next?
|
||||
|
||||
As the ThreeFold ecosystem continues to grow, we’re looking into building more bridges (e.g. Cosmos, Ethereum), some of which are already under development, to improve the accessibility of TFT and simplify the onboarding of blockchain and DeFi projects on the ThreeFold Grid. TF Chain will play an important role in the further development of the People’s Internet as the main inter-chain for [TFT](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/threefold__threefold_token).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
*Try out the Stellar-BSC bridge [here](https://bridge.bsc.threefold.io/) and visit [our forum](https://forum.threefold.io/) to share your experiences.*
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
*Also, check out our blog post on TF Chain [here](https://threefold.io/blog/post/tf_chain/).*
|
||||
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: threefold_foundation_33
|
||||
title: Bringing Trust is a Human Task
|
||||
tags: [blockchain,technology]
|
||||
category: [twin]
|
||||
image: ./bringing_trust.png
|
||||
image_caption: humans
|
||||
excerpt: Everyone thinks that Satoshi Nakamoto invented blockchain technology when he published his whitepaper in January 2009
|
||||
authors: [weynand_kuijpers]
|
||||
created: 2019-08-17
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## A little history on blockchain technology
|
||||
|
||||
Everyone thinks that Satoshi Nakamoto invented blockchain technology when he published his whitepaper in January 2009 to make a digital currency the first use case. But it was not!.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
In 1991, Dr. W. Scott Stornetta published a white paper in which he introduced a 'blockchain' as a decentralized database where digital transactions are secured. The research focused on creating a digital hierarchy system that time-stamped and chronologically secured deals in a chain of blocks. The first considered use case for blockchain technology was to sign and store land deeds digitally. The technology's main characteristics were decentralization and immutability across the process of storing transaction data.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Satoshi was the person (or part of a group of people) that used these blockchain principles to create the first digital currency - Bitcoin. The rest is history, from one to many digital currencies based on different creation principles (also referred to as cryptocurrencies, digital coins, etc.) that have been launched and existed for over a decade and have begun to come more into the mainstream purview.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization and immutability
|
||||
|
||||
The two characteristics that have spawned interest in Blockchain technology are decentralization and immutability. In the current world, centralization is everywhere, in most industries, governments, education systems, the world wide web (Internet), and more. All roads these days seem to lead to centralized setups.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Examples of centralized setups today:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
- **Monetary**: Fiat currencies are governed and controlled by central banks. According to Wikipedia: "A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages a state's currency, money supply, and interest rates. Central banks also oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank has a monopoly on increasing the monetary base in the state and prints the national currency, which serves as the state's legal tender. Central banks also act as a "lender of last resort" to the banking sector during a financial crisis. Most central banks also have supervisory and regulatory powers to ensure the solvency of member institutions, prevent bank runs, and prevent reckless or fraudulent behavior by member banks." So central banks control fiat currencies, and other institutions control central banks.
|
||||
- **World Wide Web (WWW)**: The World Wide Web is an information space where documents and other web resources are identified by Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), interlinked by hypertext links, and accessible via the Internet. English scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989. Although distributed by design, this technology shares and exposes globally developed information and centralized functions crucial to make this World Wide Web work: large (commercial) monopolies have developed centralized search facilities, e.g., yellow pages of the world wide web. These search facilities now control what you find when you are looking for a specific search term.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
There seems to be a natural "desire" to organize and create different things with central control. Probably the result of our (humankind) social models based on hierarchies and competition. These social models have influenced a lot of what we have built in the industrial and information revolution - creating centralization as the defacto standard of building anything.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Now that we have invented a technology that potentially can build different things without a lot of centralization, we need to be careful to use it for the right things.
|
||||
|
||||
## Blockchain myths
|
||||
|
||||
To investigate what potential right use cases exist for blockchain technologies, let spend some time on some of the blockchain myths created in recent years. Similar to other new technologies, blockchains market themselves as a miracle technology that overcomes many (if not any) of the challenges and difficulties that exist in modern-day digital technology. Let's name and investigate a few.
|
||||
|
||||
### Blockchains are "Super Scalable"
|
||||
|
||||
Are they? Pure blockchain deployments are not super scalable compared to conventional (server-based) transaction methods. Current financial blockchain transaction times are very slow compared to any other (currency) transaction technologies out there, being it card transactions like Mastercard, VISA, or money transfers from one bank account to another.
|
||||
|
||||
### Blockchain technology brings "Impeccable security."
|
||||
|
||||
Very questionable! While blockchains use cryptographic standards, the methods to ensure privacy is entirely outside of any blockchain standards and implementations. It's every implementer's responsibility to ensure security, therefore mostly handled as it is in the old (conventional?) world.
|
||||
|
||||
### When using Blockchains, "Trustworthiness is guaranteed."
|
||||
|
||||
By what? Blockchain ensures the integrity of transactions and information storage, but otherwise, nothing is inherently trustworthy about any fact stored on the Blockchain. You need to corroborate trustworthiness by ensuring that the parties who store information in the Blockchain are incorruptible and that these facts are correct —just as you would in the rest of the world without using blockchain technology.
|
||||
|
||||
### Blockchains can manage "Anything."
|
||||
|
||||
Blockchain is a protocol expressed in code, and this does not define in terms of any standard. There are no standards bodies to provide sanctioned implementation rules or guidance.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Many contracts or types of data are better dealt with not on a blockchain: as it is a database that has only write and read functionality, but no update nor deletion is possible, it's even dangerous to post sensitive and personal data on a blockchain, and if not used well, there might raise conflicts with regulations such as GDPR. However, a blockchain can provide consensus where required.
|
||||
|
||||
### Smart contracts on the Blockchain can do "Everything."
|
||||
|
||||
Potentially but maybe not in the way how people see it today. While this is technically true, Blockchain is limited to well-understood and straightforward use cases, without ambiguities. Smart contracts are essentially rocket science. By design, once published (launched), you cannot revise or bug fix them.
|
||||
|
||||
### Blockchain deployments "If not public - go private!"
|
||||
|
||||
Not the same thing! Private blockchains are not the answer to privacy or restricted access to information. Purely private/enterprise blockchains might fail to realize any of the benefits of Blockchain.
|
||||
|
||||
### A new feature, "justifies deploying a new Blockchain."
|
||||
|
||||
Community-driven blockchain products are being forked left and right by private players who enhance them in various ways. But only the open-source blockchains with the largest communities and install-plus-adoption bases will persist. The rest are mainly lab experiments, and 99.9 percent of these probably fail.
|
||||
|
||||
## Blockchain myths undone
|
||||
|
||||
So Blockchain is a hyped new technology, but they are not the answer to everything. Just like with any other technology or tool, you need to consider if the use case considered carefully is appropriate. In the end, it is only neutral characteristics that might be a reason for applying a blockchain or not:
|
||||
- is there a need for decentralization?
|
||||
- is there a need for immutability?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
When considering Blockchain technology for a specific purpose, proper due diligence should happen. This to determine the fit and implementing it if it enhances value for the organization. Humans play a vital role in the decision process and are required to find solutions for the flaws that blockchains bring along.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Scalability, security, trustworthiness, functionality are to be added by humans to blockchain deployments.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
This delicate mix of characteristics to be implemented explains why many Blockchain projects don't succeed, despite the rightful claims around the disruptive nature of the technology.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Two frequent mistakes within the Industry:
|
||||
- The technology is used as the ultimate technology to solve all the problems described above, and this often leads to failure in the end as Blockchain can't fulfill these promises.
|
||||
- The technology is used under the false pretext that decentralization is wanted, whereas the real intention is to be in control. Blockchain thinking also requires an entirely different way of thinking than the classical models embedded in the heart of our economies: concentration of power & control and competition need to make room for decentralization and collaboration.
|
||||
|
||||
### Blockchains are here to stay!
|
||||
|
||||
With all the hype around blockchain technology and also all the failed initiatives, blockchain technology does allow for digital worlds to exist without centralization. The information revolution has brought forward a lot of progress and innovation to the people; however, the outcome has also been only a few large organizations controlling all of it.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Examples are:
|
||||
- Online search: Google
|
||||
- Online social: Facebook, Twitter
|
||||
- Online banking: any large international bank
|
||||
- Online insurance: few insurance alliances
|
||||
- Customer Relationship Management: SalesForce
|
||||
- Enterprise Resource Management: Oracle, SAP
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
All these organizations are leading in their specific digital innovation sector, and some of them even provide services for free. Nothing is for free in this world and reality -in return for these services, you accept the terms and conditions which allow the companies to use your personal information and user statistics for their benefits and make money from this behavior derived data.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Most industry leaders have become so powerful that there is almost no way around them anymore. You are practically obliged to comply with their terms and conditions to do something useful with the Internet today.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The world is awakening and seeking alternatives in which such monopolistic structures do not control data and information. Blockchain technologies allow new solutions to be built without central governing bodies, creating person-to-person sharing and trading opportunities.
|
||||
|
||||
### The combination of people and blockchains is really powerful
|
||||
|
||||
People remain the best to create decentralized business models that combine Blockchain's strengths with complementary measures to compensate for the weaknesses of the technology. Blockchains are not replacing people. Blockchain technology is just a tool that enhances people's ability to organize themselves around decentralized initiatives that require no central body to govern and control. Therefore, Blockchain is a powerful tool indeed but remains just a tool.
|
||||
|
||||
### A platform for people to start blockchains
|
||||
|
||||
What if there would be a platform where the strong points of blockchains (decentralization) could enable people to organize themselves around a random initiative and launch it based on blockchain technology? Blockchain As a Service (BAAS).
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
A platform like that could be powerful to enable people around the world to use and benefit from blockchain technology to organize themselves around digital initiatives, currencies, finance, trade, company, anything. Let's consider a small example:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
e.g., Sixty people want to start an organization in which they all have an equal stake. They can organize this by going to the notary and establishing a company with equity and dividing the equity amongst them. They can run quarterly /annual meetings to govern and control the company. They would also need an administration to record decisions and communicate across the organization.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
What if a platform could launch several blockchain nodes (60, one for each of them) and record all decisions, having all information trackable and traceable for anyone? Blockchain As A Service (BAAS) will enable people to organize themselves independently and create new movements, companies, groups, tribes. This would be a powerful platform allowing many people (and hopefully all people) to organize themselves in new ways, free of the need to have notaries, lawyers, and contracts.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
However, to build such a platform, compliance is needed with some pretty specific requirements. Requirements that enable such a platform not to be governed and controlled by a single organization.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The requirements for such a platform would sum up as follows:
|
||||
- A single organization cannot own the platform, it needs to be owned by many
|
||||
- Such a platform cannot have administrator access. Administrators access takes away the neutrality and privacy that such a platform requires.
|
||||
- The platform needs to be very efficient. To be available to all people globally, it needs to be affordable for anyone.
|
||||
- The platform needs to be everywhere. Part of the efficiency is that it should require expensive international access lines - it needs to be able to live everywhere - in well connected (and affordable) areas as well as in less well-connected places.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Such a platform is a very different platform than most of what we know today. It needs to be a platform build by many people, for anyone. It needs not be governed by a single organization; it needs to be governed by many.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
People with the right intentions need to collectively build a platform based on hardware owned by many and software that is open and can be inspected and improved by anyone. It is a platform created by people for people using blockchain technology to achieve a genuinely decentralized nature of the platform running Blockchain as a service.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
People should always remain as the element that brings trust in IT. Blockchains help to register that trust forever.
|
||||
|
||||
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|
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: building_a_new_internet_from_the_ground_up_pt2
|
||||
title: "Building a New Internet From the Ground Up – Part 2: Storage"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid,technology,peer_to_peer]
|
||||
category: [foundation,farming,cloud]
|
||||
image: ./building_a_new_internet_2.png
|
||||
image_caption: The ThreeFold Grid Peer-to-Peer Technology
|
||||
excerpt: Part two of an approachable series on the inner workings of the ThreeFold Grid. This time, storage
|
||||
authors: [scott_yeager]
|
||||
created: 2021-07-28
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Welcome back for the second part of this introductory series on ThreeFold Grid technology. [Last time](https://threefold.io/blog/post/an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid/) we took a high level view of all that the Grid offers. This time, we'll be zooming in on storage, covering the low level components and how they can provide a familiar experience like the cloud "drives" and "boxes" we use today.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The ThreeFold Grid offers several different storage primitives that can be combined in various ways to meet the needs of developers and end users of Grid capacity. Ultimately, all storage services are a way of presenting the underlying hardware to software workloads in various ways, according to the desired features. ThreeFold has created a few unique storage offerings, providing distinct benefits over legacy cloud infrastructure. From the start, every component has been designed for optimal efficiency and they work together to offer an unprecedented level of security.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Our most basic storage primitive is a "volume", which simply offers some disk space to an application in a generic way. We'll focus more on the innovative solutions that are built on the Zero Database, or Zdb. These are compatible with existing use cases but also represent a quantum leap forward for privacy and security. They are called Zdbfs, Zstor, and QSFS. Let's take a look at each component and how they work together to provide a complete set of tools for developers building on the Grid. We'll also see why this matters to end users of services that are hosted on the Grid.
|
||||
|
||||
## Zdb
|
||||
|
||||
Zdb is a low level offering that implements with a subset of features from the popular Redis protocol. It is a key-value store, which means that information is indexed like a dictionary. Each "word" in the database is associated with a "definition" or piece of data. Zdb is super fast and efficient, along with operating in an "append only" manner. This means that all new data is added to empty space following the end of existing data, never overwritten. It's like writing in pen on paper without leaving any white space.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Append only has many advantages, including extending the life of certain hardware and offering archiving features out of the box. The disadvantage, of course, is that old data is retained even when no longer needed. However, this can be addressed by periodically "compacting" the data, to remove what's no longer needed and restructure what remains with the same level of efficiency. We use Zdb as a base layer for more complex storage implementations that benefit from these features.
|
||||
|
||||
## Zdbfs
|
||||
|
||||
While Zdb has all of those neat properties, it requires that applications utilize a specific database interface. To expand its capabilities, we have the Zdb Filesystem. With Zdbfs, the back end Zdb is exposed through the most common interface used for storing and retrieving data: a filesystem. This is the same format we're all familiar with from the file explorers on our computers. When running Zdbfs, a new "folder" appears on the system, allowing reading and writing to the connected Zdb without any concern for the underlying database. With Zdbfs, nearly all existing tools for working with data can be plugged in to and benefit from the advantages of Zdb.
|
||||
|
||||
## Zstor
|
||||
|
||||
So far, we've been discussing solutions that utilize storage space on a single node only. While this offers flexibility for developers with a variety of needs, it is also limited in the sense that the failure of a single node would result in the loss of all data. With that in mind, we offer the Zstor solution for spreading data across multiple nodes in a way that provides both resilience against failures and unprecedented security.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Zstor takes a single file as input, to be stored among a number of nodes as specified in its configuration. The system is flexible and able to cater to different needs for performance, redundancy, and geographical distribution. Understanding what happens behind the scenes requires a little math, but I'll provide as simple an explanation as I can. Zstor has a very unique property: it does not actually upload any of the user's data to the back end nodes, but it is able to reconstruct the data later based on the descriptive information that is stored.
|
||||
|
||||
### The magic of erasure encoding
|
||||
|
||||
Sounds like magic? Well, let's explore briefly how this is possible. Zstor relies on a technology known as erasure encoding, which was originally designed to protect data against errors that sometimes occur in the normal operation of computer hardware. Rather than simply making copies of the data as backups, a clever scheme is used to efficiently offer the same benefit. With basic redundancy, four extra copies would be needed to accommodate four failures without a loss of data. Erasure encoding can accomplish the same failure tolerance using less than half the space needed for the original data.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
While erasure encoding can be implemented by storing the data itself along with some extra data known as "parity", it can also be implemented without storing the original data at all. As a simplified example, let's say that we want to store the number 13. First, we take each digit individually, 1 and 3. Next, we calculate 1 + 3 = 4 and 3 - 1 = 2. By storing 4 and 2, along with the instructions to reverse these calculations, we have everything needed to get back to 13. If we add one more equation, say 1 - 3 = -2, we can restore the original data using any two of the numbers we've computed.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Each of our values would be stored on separate nodes, while the instructions to recombine them would be stored in yet another location. If an attacker were to compromise one of these nodes, they would only have a number that's meaningless without the other elements. If a single node fails, the original data can be restored using the remaining nodes, and we can add a new node to bring us back to our desired state. By tuning these values, additional security or redundancy can be achieved. We might decide that we want 9 of 10 values to be present for reconstruction, representing a high level of security. Alternatively, a 2 of 10 arrangement would provide high redundancy, tolerating the failure of 8 nodes.
|
||||
|
||||
## Quantum Safe Filesystem
|
||||
|
||||
With all of these components working together, we have ThreeFold's flagship storage solution, the Quantum Safe Filesystem or QSFS. It uses Zstor to backup data written to a Zdbfs. This provides the convenient and highly compatible filesystem interface along with the exceptional security and redundancy benefits of Zstor. We call it quantum safe, because even an attacker with a quantum computer would not be able to decode users' data, if they managed to hack into one of the back end nodes—already an extraordinary feat given the exceptional security of Zero OS.
|
||||
|
||||
## Bringing it home
|
||||
|
||||
So, we've toured a good bit of technology which might be feeling a bit abstract at this point. Bringing this home, our front end experience with these technologies can feel no different than any of the "drives" and "boxes" we use to store our files in the cloud. In fact, ThreeFold has already developed a prototype file browser based on QSFS which has many cool features like editing documents and viewing media directly in the web interface. It's one piece of a full suite of solutions we're excited to showcase and invite the community to test soon.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
I hope you found this piece informative and approachable. Thanks for joining me to learn and explore the wonderful world of ThreeFold technology. We'll cover more aspects of what makes it all tick in future parts of this series. Do you have questions or feel like chatting about what's possible with ThreeFold's technology? We'd love to hear from you on [our forum](https://forum.threefold.io) or in [our Telegram group](https://t.me/threefold).
|
||||
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@@ -1,81 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: building_a_new_internet_from_the_ground_up_3
|
||||
title: "Building a New Internet From the Ground Up – Part 3: Compute"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid,technology,peer_to_peer]
|
||||
category: [foundation,farming,cloud]
|
||||
image: ./building_a_new_internet_3.png
|
||||
image_caption: The ThreeFold Grid Peer-to-Peer Technology
|
||||
excerpt: Part three of an approachable series on the inner workings of the ThreeFold Grid. This time, we're exploring compute.
|
||||
authors: [scott_yeager]
|
||||
created: 2021-10-04
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
*Welcome back for another installment of our accessible series on ThreeFold Grid technology. We are working through the three major categories that make up cloud infrastructure: storage, compute, and network. This time, we'll be focusing on compute.*
|
||||
|
||||
## What is compute?
|
||||
|
||||
While [storage](https://threefold.io/blog/post/building_a_new_internet_from_the_ground_up_pt2/) and network are fairly intuitive concepts – where data lives and how it gets around – compute is about the more mysterious realm of data processing and ultimately computer programming. Don't worry though, you don't need any technical abilities to gain a deeper understanding of what's happening behind the scenes when we use apps or interact with web sites.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
As mentioned in the [first part](https://threefold.io/blog/post/an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid/) of this series, compute is basically what happens with data once it reaches its destination. Compute gives data relevance, by processing it according to the instructions provided by developers in their source code. When talking about what the [ThreeFold Grid](https://threefold.io/grid) offers in terms of compute, it's mostly about how the code that developers produce gets executed in order to provide the services we enjoy.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
With ThreeFold, this actually happens for the most part using the same tools and systems provided by traditional cloud services, meaning that it's highly compatible with existing cloud applications. What really makes the Grid different is that it's been designed to provide a level of efficiency and security that simply isn't possible without starting "from the ground up". Before we get into specifics of compute offerings built into ThreeFold's [Zero-OS](https://threefold.io/how-it-works/zero-os), let's briefly explore what computing is.
|
||||
|
||||
## Playing with zeroes and ones
|
||||
|
||||
Everything a computer's central processing unit does is based on a limited set of instructions that includes basic mathematical functions, logical operations, and ways to control the flow of a program. At their core, computers are really just automated adding machines that execute specified operations on whatever input they receive. It may be hard to believe that simple math creates all of the vibrant digital experience we enjoy, but at a certain low level, that's the truth.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Take a messaging app as an example. Within a computer, all of the text, emojis, and images we see are represented by numbers. When we search for some text within a chat, matches are determined by checking if the numbers corresponding to the words we typed are equal to some numbers corresponding to words that appear in the chat history. This information is then converted into the list of results we see on screen.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
In this context, compute is mostly responsible for organizing all of our messages based on the individual or group we were talking with, the time that the message happened, and whether or not we've opened it yet. Typically, a messaging app stores data both on our local devices and on a back end in the cloud. Compute is also how the service decides to copy messages you sent on one device to other devices where you have the same app installed.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Here is an important distinction about how the ThreeFold Grid operates. In a traditional cloud environment, it is impossible to know for sure what is happening on the backend, even if you are the one running the service. The administrative access retained by the cloud provider can be used for surveillance and tampering that can be very difficult or impossible to detect.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Zero OS offers a unique assurance that no one can abuse the Grid in this way, because it operates autonomously with no facilities provided for human intervention. In order to utilize compute capacity on the Grid, individuals and organizations deploy their choice of several "primitives," or basic components, that provide an environment for code to be executed and create the magic we experience as online applications.
|
||||
|
||||
## ThreeFold Compute Primitives
|
||||
|
||||
Since we're getting a bit into the technical weeds here, we'll just take a brief look at each primitive and what makes it special.
|
||||
|
||||
### Zmachine
|
||||
|
||||
Zmachine is a lightweight virtual machine (VM) implementation that's been developed in a uniquely efficient way by ThreeFold. VMs are essentially computers within computers, allowing multiple operating systems to run on a single physical system. A common example is running the Windows operating system on a Mac that's already running MacOS.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
In the cloud world, virtual machines are a classic way to manage complex deployments with flexibility and resilience – by packaging different components into different VMs that can be run side by side and moved between different physical servers with ease. While VMs have been replaced in many cases with the new container paradigm, which we'll cover next, they are still widely used and provide a simpler solution than containers that's sufficient for many use cases.
|
||||
|
||||
### Flist
|
||||
|
||||
The [Flist](https://threefold.io/how-it-works/zflist) is a next generation container format which extends the industry standard Docker container concept in an efficient and secure way. It is supported directly at the operating system level on Zero OS, and in its latest version on ThreeFold Grid 3.0, provides a unique advantage over traditional containers via the use of mini virtual machines.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Containers provide greater efficiency and flexibility than VMs, by sharing parts of the host operating system between containers rather than duplicating the full operating system for each component. This, however, means that containers typically come with less of an assurance that different workloads and their data remain isolated from each other. By employing mini VMs, the Flist concept provides better isolation than traditional container systems while retaining the advantages that containers offer over full VMs.
|
||||
|
||||
### Kubernetes
|
||||
|
||||
Containers usually represent small parts of a full solution, which are created, interconnected, and destroyed on an ongoing basis. Kubernetes is the industry standard container orchestration system, and it's used to manage many of the largest and most complex cloud deployments. Kubernetes solutions are defined through configuration files that specify the types of containers, how updates are handled, and the network architecture both between containers and with the outside world.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Multiple physical servers or VMs are typically used for a Kubernetes "cluster" which provides redundancy and scalability. The ThreeFold Grid provides a lightweight Kubernetes VM that can be used to create clusters according to specific needs. Kubernetes users can, for the most part, simply bring their existing configuration files and recreate their deployments on a Grid based cluster seamlessly.
|
||||
|
||||
## Wrapping up
|
||||
|
||||
Taken together, the compute primitives offer a comprehensive alternative to existing cloud compute providers. Users of Docker, Kubernetes, and virtual machines can bring their deployments to the Grid with a minimal amount of migration effort. This is distinct from other decentralized cloud projects, which either offer a single solution like Kubernetes or a completely new environment that developers must adapt their code to run within.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Better yet, each compute offering on the ThreeFold Grid benefits from the unique efficiency and security features of Zero OS, as well as the unique aspects of the primitives themselves. Thanks again for joining me on this journey into the wonderful world of ThreeFold technology. In the next episode, we'll cover the last element of the cloud infrastructure triad: network.
|
||||
@@ -1,93 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: building_a_new_internet_from_the_ground_up_4
|
||||
title: "Building a New Internet From the Ground Up – Part 4: Network"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid,technology,peer_to_peer]
|
||||
category: [foundation,farming,cloud]
|
||||
image: ./building_a_new_internet_pt_4.png
|
||||
image_caption: The ThreeFold Grid Peer-to-Peer Technology
|
||||
excerpt: We're (finally) back with part 4, looking at the networking aspects of the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
authors: [scott_yeager]
|
||||
created: 2022-02-03
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
After introducing the ThreeFold Grid in [part one](https://threefold.io/blog/post/an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid/) and diving deep into [storage](https://threefold.io/blog/post/building_a_new_internet_from_the_ground_up_pt2/) and [compute](https://threefold.io/blog/post/building_a_new_internet_from_the_ground_up_3/), we’re back with part 4 to look at the networking aspects of the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Computer networking is a rather complex phenomenon with a thankfully intuitive outcome: you send messages from one place to another. We all understand that our digital devices become a lot less interesting when they are not connected to the Internet. However, networking is not just Internet, and when it comes to building a new Internet, it's important to understand what that means.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The existing Internet can be defined as a global set of networks and protocols that enable us to do things like load web pages and use apps that rely on external data. It depends on lots of underlying infrastructure, including fiber optic cables running along the ocean floor, our home routers and their connection to an Internet service provider (ISP), lots of cell service towers, and an increasing number of satellites. All of that makes the Internet possible, and it's still required for a new Internet to function.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
[ThreeFold](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/) uses and builds new protocols to create a network that is interoperable with the existing Internet. These include private overlay networks, the [Planetary Network](https://forum.threefold.io/t/how-our-planetary-network-works/1210) based on Yggdrasil, and various interfaces to the public Internet. Let's see how they work.
|
||||
|
||||
## Private overlay networks
|
||||
|
||||
Every deployment on the [ThreeFold Grid](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/threefold__tfgrid_primitives?id=network-uses-nu) belongs to a network, which is one of the Grid primitives. These networks allow data to be transmitted between workloads in a private and secure manner. They are called overlay networks because they pass traffic over some underlying network. That could be within a single node or between nodes on infrastructure provided by a farmer. The Grid uses software called WireGuard for this purpose, a simple, fast, and secure option among its alternatives.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
By means of encryption, the traffic on a private overlay network is unreadable to any other device on that network. Likewise, the workloads within the private network have no visibility of the underlying network. Individuals who deploy workloads can access their networks over a secure tunnel, assuming that one of the nodes in the network is reachable from the public Internet. This is suitable for workload administration and some private applications. For public services and peer-to-peer communication, the ThreeFold Grid provides other solutions.
|
||||
|
||||
## Planetary Network
|
||||
|
||||
The [Planetary Network](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/technology/threefold__planetary_network?id=planetary-network) is an implementation of the [Yggdrasil Network](https://yggdrasil-network.github.io/about.html), which is a next generation approach to network routing. It is a peer-to-peer solution where all traffic is encrypted and takes the shortest path to its destination. These features make it highly compatible with the ethos and goals of the ThreeFold Grid: privacy, security, and efficiency. The design also allows nodes, workloads, and users to communicate freely without relying on centralized intermediaries.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Many [ThreeFold Farmers](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__farming_intro?id=threefold-farming) connect their nodes to a home router which blocks all inbound traffic by default. This is a sensible feature that doesn't interfere with most Internet usage (enthusiasts who want to host their own website or a gaming server might bypass this, for example). However, nodes on the Grid need to be reachable, especially in order to receive workload definitions from deployers.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The Planetary Network solves this by accepting inbound traffic through an outbound connection to a publicly accessible peer. You can think of this like making a call to an operator and then waiting for another call to be routed to you on that line. Even if your phone is set to block all incoming calls, someone can still reach you if they can reach the operator.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
This also provides a way for workloads to communicate with one another and be reachable by users. Anyone can enable the Planetary Network on their own device to access sites and services in a very [secure and private](https://forum.threefold.io/t/critical-security-updates-for-apple-and-google-underline-need-for-secure-it-ecosystem/1271) way. While the ThreeFold Grid is designed to be fully interoperable with the existing Internet, the Planetary Network provides an alternative which can sit side by side in a seamless way.
|
||||
|
||||
### Reliable Message Bus
|
||||
|
||||
Using the Planetary Network, nodes and Grid users can send messages over the [Reliable Message Bus](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/manual__rmd). Notably, it is used for the delivery of workload definitions as mentioned earlier. [Zero-OS](https://forum.threefold.io/t/all-you-need-to-know-about-zero-os/1734) supports some other RMB messages as well, for doing things like checking available capacity on a node in real time. RMB is a general purpose protocol that can be used by developers in their applications. It queries the [ThreeFold Blockchain](https://threefold.io/blog/post/tf_chain/) as a kind of address book for the Planetary Network, enabling nodes and users to find each other in a decentralized way.
|
||||
|
||||
## Public IPs and Web Gateways
|
||||
|
||||
Finally, let's see how the Grid can offer services over the public Internet using public IP addresses and [web gateways](https://threefold.io/tech/web-gateway/). Everytime we type a domain name into our browser, like threefold.io, it is resolved to an IP address. The browser then forms a connection with that address to retrieve the site we're looking for. Reviving a theme from earlier, that IP must be publicly reachable.
|
||||
|
||||
### Public IPs
|
||||
|
||||
We're in the midst of a shift from the older IPv4 standard to the newer IPv6 standard. While IPv6 has plenty of addresses for every device on the planet and many more, it hasn't been universally adopted yet, and IPv4 addresses are in short supply. You likely have one assigned to your router at home, and these days, even getting a second one from your ISP can be a difficult and expensive proposition.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The ThreeFold Grid allows farmers who own blocks of IPv4 addresses to rent them out to deployers. These addresses get attached to individual workloads which are then reachable over the public Internet. A deployer could then assign their own domain name to that IP and host a website there. This is a very flexible way to make Grid deployments publicly available, but it comes at a relatively high cost.
|
||||
|
||||
### Web Gateways
|
||||
|
||||
[Web gateways](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/technology/threefold__webgw) are another way to make workloads on the ThreeFold Grid available over the public Internet. In this case, the farmer may provide a domain name that points to one of their nodes which is publicly reachable. Deployers are then able to reserve a subdomain, like explorer.threefold.io is a subdomain of threefold.io, that routes traffic to their workload. It is also possible for a deployer to point their own domain to the gateway node which then routes traffic to the appropriate workloads.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
We glossed over a bit in the earlier description of domain name to IP address resolution. In fact, multiple domains can point to a single IP address and this is common practice among existing web hosts. Adding similar functionality to the Grid helps to ease the demand for IPv4 addresses and is a lower cost solution for deployers than renting a dedicated IP. The web gateway also serves to enhance security and reliability of Grid-hosted services.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The gateway provides a connection from the public Internet to the secure private overlay networks that all workloads use. However, this is not a standard network connection but instead a network socket, which provides security through separation. This is something like passing along the contents of mail pieces without their envelopes. Web gateways also enable redundancy, as multiple gateways can point to the same workload, and multiple workloads can serve the same set of gateways.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
When we say the ThreeFold Grid scales limitlessly, this is one of the ways that's true. Many nodes, many gateways, many applications, and many users can all fit into this model. Deployers can start with a single [virtual machine](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual__weblets_vm?id=virtual-machine) and a single public IP like in the example I'll use to wrap up this piece below, then ramp up to a globally distributed and highly redundant system as their requirements grow.
|
||||
|
||||
## Send, receive, complete
|
||||
|
||||
Now we've seen how the ThreeFold Grid handles networking. From private and secure communication between workloads, to next generation [peer-to-peer](https://threefold.io/tech/peer-to-peer/) communication and full compatibility with the existing Internet, these offerings are comprehensive. Not only that, but they can be pretty darn fun to play with too.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
In my own recent experience, I deployed a virtual machine on the Grid with a public IP and hosted a simple website with a map of nodes on the Grid that I'd been working on. I was able to quickly share it with some colleagues and members of the community. It went from a project I was tinkering with on my own computer to a live site on the Internet in a matter of minutes, thanks especially to the [networking features](https://forum.threefold.io/t/tf-deep-dive-session-5-threefold-grid-architecture/1756) of the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
For the final piece of this series, we'll see how everything comes together to turn computer code into a meaningful digital experience. Stay tuned!
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,81 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: connecting_the_dots
|
||||
title: "Connecting the Dots: ThreeFold plans to scale globally"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, peer_to_peer, community, why]
|
||||
category: [foundation]
|
||||
image: ./connecting_the_dots.png
|
||||
image_caption: "Connecting the Dots: ThreeFold plans to scale globally"
|
||||
excerpt: ThreeFold started as an idea about ten years ago and is now manifesting itself into the most comprehensive peer-to-peer Internet and cloud infrastructure in the world. The potential of our technology to revolutionize digitization globally is endless and limited only to our collective imagination.
|
||||
authors: [sacha_obeegadoo]
|
||||
created: 2022-03-29
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold started as an idea about ten years ago and is now manifesting itself into the most comprehensive peer-to-peer Internet and cloud infrastructure in the world. The potential of our technology to revolutionize digitization globally is endless and limited only to our collective imagination. In this blog, we share our ‘glocal’ strategy on how we will build our ecosystem, and the exciting opportunities opening up around the world for those interested to join us!
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Let’s start with some background. Today’s Internet is global*. However, it is incredibly centralized and vulnerable. ThreeFold aims to decentralize its infrastructure, empower people to be sovereign, and accelerate the world’s transition towards open-source systems to build a more inclusive and fair future for all.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
A peer-to-peer Internet has an undeniable potential in driving a distributed global economy. This is for a number of reasons – including, but not limited to the fact that instead of relying on centralized cloud providers and tech giants to expand the infrastructure that holds humanity’s data and applications, the peer-to-peer Internet allows any global citizen to participate in the Internet economy by connecting a computer from their house or office to build the decentralized future they want to live in. Also, while half of the world takes Internet access for granted, it remains unavailable to the other half.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
*So then is the Internet really “global?”
|
||||
|
||||
## Empowering sovereignty and economic freedom
|
||||
|
||||
Billions of people around the world still remain without access to the Internet or financial services today. Yet many of them have access to electricity and network, and some even already own a mobile phone that could help them access the Internet and financial services. But without fair and reliable connectivity, they remain in the dark. ThreeFold holds an answer here.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The Internet is a human right but it is unequally distributed around the world. ThreeFold enables the realization of an open-source, peer-to-peer Internet that can scale to anywhere electricity and network exists. Everyone deserves access to the Internet, education and financial services to equally learn, partake and succeed, regardless of where they were born, their gender or their socioeconomic status.
|
||||
|
||||
## So how can ThreeFold go truly global?
|
||||
|
||||
Going global is complicated and even more these days with the evolving regulatory and socio-economical landscapes. Thus, it’s important for us to be on the ground. So we will work with our community and ecosystem on one hand, and with governments and regulators on the other hand, for all of us to meet in the middle. We will always aim to be the most transparent, trusted, inclusive and decentralized Internet solution wherever we go.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
A first step in our strategy is to support the growth of local communities across regions to build local presence on the ground. The only way for a truly decentralized Internet to emerge is to involve people in the building process of it, both on a hardware and software level. We are in the midst of kicking off an extensive global expansion strategy, with grants and hiring plans to grow the ThreeFold Grid across markets and ultimately build strong local communities that can serve potential customers locally.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Together with these communities, we will develop and grow the ThreeFold Grid, establish our presence with local developers, grow our ecosystem, and collaborate closely with our network.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Throughout the last year we have made incredible connections across industries including Blockchain, Web 3.0, IoT, Real Estate and Supply Chains.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Every region is unique and we cannot take the same approach wherever we go. This is where the idea of ‘glo-cality’ comes in – a global concept applied locally with regional context.
|
||||
|
||||
## Global Concept: Launch of educational campaigns around the importance of a peer-to-peer Internet
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold’s mission is to realize the promise of an open-source, peer-to-peer Internet owned by humanity, and we take this commitment heartedly. The first objective of our global strategy is to allow anyone who wants to expand the peer-to-peer Internet to their neighborhood to be able to find compatible computers and how to get started.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
For a multi-region approach to scaling the ThreeFold Grid to arise, a decentralized 3Node marketplace will be launched in April 2022. This will allow communities to access a simple, decentralized and certified platform to buy and sell compatible computer hardware locally. As the ThreeFold Grid expands, we will look to go local, as shared below:
|
||||
|
||||
## Applied locally: Grow localized ecosystems of developers and enterprises to productize the infrastructure
|
||||
|
||||
Most countries are looking for new Internet infrastructure alternatives to protect their sovereignty. ThreeFold’s peer-to-peer Internet supports any current and emerging technological trend in a way that is fully compliant with any local digital laws and regulations. For developers and enterprises, this includes a peer-to-peer Infrastructure as a service which offers a distributed, quantum-safe storage and a decentralized edge computing platform to host any current or future technology. For institutions, we will offer a suite of advanced infrastructure set-ups for a sovereign and unbreakable Internet infrastructure.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized financial and legal systems are being created along with industry experts from around the world to deliver on cross-border financial freedom, education and Internet access. Along with a strong ecosystem, we are planning to offer a full suite of advanced technological, financial and educational solutions to countries, especially in the global south to bring access to education, Internet and financial inclusion to more than a billion people by 2030.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
At ThreeFold, we’re committed to building and expanding the open Internet that is owned by humanity. We are always looking at expanding our ecosystem with the world’s best thinkers and talent ready to be at service of a mission that unites us all. If you think this could be you, we’re waiting for you!
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Have you read our [manifesto](https://threefold.io/blog/post/realizing_the_promise/) yet? Join the peer-to-peer [movement](https://t.me/threefold) today!
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
*Apply for an open position [here](https://threefold.io/careers) and bring your proposals to the community-led [forum](https://forum.threefold.io/t/about-the-join-the-fold-category/2570).*
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,77 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: cyberwar
|
||||
title: Can a 'Democratized' Internet exist in times of a Cyber War?
|
||||
tags: [peer_to_peer,data,why,technology]
|
||||
category: [foundation]
|
||||
image: ./cyberwar.png
|
||||
image_caption: The Cyber War
|
||||
excerpt: With cyber sovereignty turning into a non-territorial challenge to sovereignty itself irrespective of the virtual realm of the internet, is there a way out for humanity?
|
||||
authors: [sacha_obeegadoo]
|
||||
created: 2022-03-03
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
On February 24 2022, Russia launched a large-scale military invasion and attack on Ukraine. In the days since the invasion began, the war has been fought not only on the ground and in the air, but also in the digital realm.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Cyber warfare is nothing new, especially in Russia and Eastern Europe. “In the relatively short and rapidly evolving history of cyber conflict, perhaps nothing has been established with greater certainty and more widely accepted than the idea that Russia has significant cyber capabilities and isn’t afraid to use them,” [writes Josephine Wolff](https://time.com/6153902/russia-major-cyber-attacks-invasion-ukraine/), associate professor of cybersecurity policy at Tufts University. “Especially on Ukraine.”
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Leading up to the invasion, Ukraine experienced a series of cyberattacks on its critical infrastructures, including banks and government agencies. On February 23 2022, just a day before the launch of Russia’s military attack, websites of the Ukrainian parliament and multiple government agencies were put out of work. Similar cyber attacks had also been seen in early February and [were attributed to GRU](https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/02/23/will-war-in-ukraine-lead-to-a-wider-cyber-conflict?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=babbage&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners), Russia’s military-intelligence agency. And Ukrainian cities continue to suffer from [internet blackouts](https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2022/02/26/ukrainian-cities-are-suffering-internet-blackouts?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=babbage&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners). On Sunday, Ukraine’s vice president even called for tech specialists and hackers to join the “cyber front.” While the predictions of a Russian “cyber onslaught” have not necessarily come true yet, both sides have engaged in cyber attacks on visible and invisible levels.
|
||||
|
||||
## A Rise in State-Sponsored Cyber Attacks Globally
|
||||
|
||||
Digital or cyber warfare does not just apply to Russia and Ukraine. Broadly, cybersecurity experts have been raising concerns in recent years amid a sharp rise in ransomware and other types of digital attacks globally.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Adam Meyers, Senior Vice President of Intelligence at the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike [said](https://www.marketplace.org/2022/02/24/cybersecurity-to-take-center-stage-as-conflict-continues-in-ukraine/): “Just in the last year, I think we’ve seen over 2,700 big-game hunting attacks [cyberattacks that target high-value data]. So they’re far and away that most prevalent actor. Nation-state actors are continuously operating as well, but they tend to operate a little bit more under the radar. They don’t conduct as many widespread and widely known attacks. They try to, obviously, steal information without it being identified that they’ve stolen it.”
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Nevertheless, these are just the most current examples – Russia is hardly the only country engaging in cyber warfare at a larger scale. In fact, it is becoming increasingly difficult for governments, corporations and organizations to protect themselves against cyber attacks, especially against [state-sponsored attacks](https://www.economist.com/business/2022/02/19/companies-have-a-lot-to-fear-from-russias-digital-warmongering?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=babbage&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners). And in the digital space, the best and most dangerous hacks are those that go unnoticed until it’s too late.
|
||||
|
||||
## Some Governments are Sectioning Off the Internet Through Digital Borders
|
||||
|
||||
A set of countries like Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran have certain [aspirations for the internet](https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/global-rise-internet-sovereignty/). Domestically, these countries want control and think governments should get to decide what information flows across their borders. Globally, they want governments, not companies and NGOs, to be in charge of the internet. While some may say that government-owned internet infrastructures would be the only way to protect a country’s sovereignty, it goes without saying that what once was a neutral space for humanity to connect and exchange information is turning into a political schema.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Taken together, these goals are an attempt to align cyberspace with national borders, so they are sometimes dubbed the [“cyber sovereignty” doctrine](https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/global-rise-internet-sovereignty/). The term comes from China, whose internet censorship system, called the Great Firewall, is the vanguard of the global cyber-sovereignty push. China’s cyberspace agency released a much-ridiculed musical ode to cybersecurity under Lu Wei’s leadership, which included the line: “A cyberpower: Where the Internet is, so is the glorious dream.”
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The vision of effective cyber-sovereignty is expanding to new horizons. A November [report](https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/global-rise-internet-sovereignty/) from Freedom House examined 65 countries and found since the previous year that internet freedom declined in 26 of them. Chinese-style “digital authoritarianism,” meanwhile, is growing in influence as China exports both its surveillance known-how and technology.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The problem here is that digital sovereignty is a major concept that not only addresses the issues of communication and connection but also the impact on societies and culture at large. With cyber sovereignty turning into a non-territorial challenge to sovereignty itself irrespective of the virtual realm of the internet, is there a way out for humanity?
|
||||
|
||||
## A Free and Sovereign Cyber Space is Needed
|
||||
|
||||
It is evident that the current internet is facing some big challenges that have major implications for humanity. Data privacy and self-sovereignty is almost impossible today, raising serious questions towards those that control the Internet. But it also seems that these companies fell into the trap of their own business models and algorithms.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
When taking a step back, the world seems just a few years away from the Matrix, as depicted by the Wachowskis.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The Internet is playing an incredibly important role for the most powerful intelligence companies. As depicted by Meyers, we wouldn’t even notice that our information is being stolen all the time to benefit the greed of powerful geo-political actors. The internet is not a public good anymore, and unless humanity reacts fast, it may be that the world will lose all forms of freedom or sovereignty.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
[“A declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace”](https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence) by John Perry Barlow once attempted to shed light on the applicability of government and institutions on the rapidly growing internet, already in 1996 trying to protect its neutrality. According to research, the world is experiencing innovation at an increasingly rapid pace. With the rise of blockchains and web3 technology, could the dream of John Perry Barlow turn into reality?
|
||||
|
||||
## So, What is the Solution?
|
||||
|
||||
In a world aching for more decentralization and less dependence on governments and corporations, new decentralized and peer-to-peer models are already proving to be more resilient and secure. New Internet infrastructure companies such as ThreeFold have successfully built peer-to-peer internet infrastructures that are more resilient than the current centralized model. On such systems, people and enterprises can store their data and run their applications on a distributed network of computers in such a way that their data cannot be corrupted. ThreeFold even created a so-called “quantum safe” storage that guarantees that even the most powerful computers in the world wouldn’t be able to reconstruct user data.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The escalation of this cyber conflict can lead to unforeseen consequences and casualties. That is why it is especially important that our industry works together to protect customers, partners, employees and citizens. ThreeFold is on a mission to realize the promise of a fully-comprehensive, open-source and peer-to-peer internet infrastructure. ThreeFold is a platform for the creators of tomorrow to build that blueprint of responsibility and ensure that the outcome of future systems is neutrality.
|
||||
|
||||
<Br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Join ThreeFold in building the new internet.
|
||||
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|
Before Width: | Height: | Size: 146 KiB |
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: data_leaks
|
||||
title: It's Time We Stand Up For Our Data
|
||||
tags: [data, why, peer_to_peer]
|
||||
category: [farming, cloud, foundation, aci, twin]
|
||||
image: ./data_leaks.png
|
||||
image_caption: stand up for our data
|
||||
excerpt: As consumers, we should be able to trust that our data is truly safe and secure. And today, we cannot. It's time we stand up for what is ours.
|
||||
authors: [sam_taggart]
|
||||
created: 2021-06-17
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Do a quick search for "data leak" on your search engine of choice, and you'll likely see headlines like this:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
- Personal Details of Over 3.3M Volkswagen Customers Exposed in Data Leak
|
||||
- Billions of emails and passwords appear in largest data leak ever
|
||||
- Here's How the IRS Could Have Prevented the Tax Data Leak
|
||||
- Time to Change Your Password: Tips on Protecting Yourself from Online Scams
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Week after week, month after month, year after year, companies are being hacked, private consumer data is being compromised and released, and we somehow begin to think that this is the reality of our world, something we just have to deal with.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Internet security, cyber attacks, and data leaks are a global threat – and increasingly so as the world moves more digital, and smart people with malicious intent try to take advantage. But this is not normal, nor should it be. As consumers, we should be able to trust that our data is truly safe and secure. And today, we cannot. It's time we stand up for what is ours.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
That's where ThreeFold comes in.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Many of today's issues around cyber security and data privacy come from the lack of innovation in the IT industry over the last decades and the reliance on centralized hyper-scale data centers. ThreeFold has disrupted this model in a few ways:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
First, we started from the ground up. Some ThreeFold co-founders have been working in the cloud & storage space for over two decades, having built components of the cloud and Internet still used today. They knew that the only way to have a truly secure and data sovereign Internet was to rebuild the architecture and the technology components from scratch. So they did. A few years down the line, we've created a new operating system, a smart contract for IT, and a peer-to-peer network that can be scaled to anywhere by anyone.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Second, we removed people from the equation. IT has become so overly-complex that people are required in order to maintain it. Because of this, "backdoors" are needed to allow these gateholders to enter the systems and make necessary fixes. But this can lead to human error, and also allows people with malicious intent to make their way in as well. With Autonomous IT powering the ThreeFold Grid, the technology runs and heals itself, and drastically reduces the opportunity for humans to interfere.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
And lastly, your data is owned by you. Rather than relying on centralized data centers, the ThreeFold Grid is an Internet grid made up by independent ThreeFold "Farmers" from around the world who plug in capacity from their home or office. While they own the hardware, they do not own the data inside. User data is stored across multiple devices, and proprietary data storage algorithms ensure that the data cannot be retrieved by anyone besides the user – not the farmer, and not even us.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
As Einstein said, "We can't solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them."
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
We have a lot more information in [our wikis](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/) about the technology, but what we want to emphasize here with you is that we don't have to accept data leaks and hacking. There is an answer to the cybersecurity issues the world is facing. And that answer is ThreeFold.
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,61 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: decentralize_blockchain
|
||||
title: How ThreeFold Can Truly Decentralize Blockchain
|
||||
tags: [farming,threefold_grid,technology,peer_to_peer,threefold_cloud]
|
||||
category: [farming,grid,aci,cloud,foundation]
|
||||
image: ./decentralize_blockchain.png
|
||||
image_caption: Decentralizing Blockchain
|
||||
excerpt: Is a blockchain truly decentralized if it is being hosted on a centralized solution? We say, no.
|
||||
authors: [sam_taggart]
|
||||
created: 2021-10-11
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The topic of decentralization is commonly tied to blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Blockchain doesn't store any of its information in a central location, rather it is copied and spread across a network of computers. And the most popular name in the blockchain space, Bitcoin, was intended as an alternative payment system free of central control.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
But many blockchains are facing the same challenge: How can they escape the monopolies of centralized cloud providers for their own workloads, as well as for the dApps built on top of them? The key question is, is a blockchain truly decentralized if it is being hosted on a centralized solution? We say: no.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
An example to illustrate this challenge is the fact that up to 60% of Ethereum (the world's second most-popular blockchain) nodes run on centralized cloud providers and [25% of them run on Amazon Web Services (AWS)](https://aws.amazon.com/blockchain/).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
While the topic is being addressed, it isn't being solved at scale. The good news is that ThreeFold can play a large part in solving it.
|
||||
|
||||
## Why should blockchains make this move?
|
||||
|
||||
The blockchain movement, as mentioned, is very heavily tied to the movement around decentralization. Cryptocurrencies represent the move away from centralized banks as the authorities and gatekeepers around money – just as ThreeFold and similar projects represent the move away from centralized clouds as the authorities and gatekeepers around data. The thing is, if blockchains are to rely on centralized cloud for hosting, they aren't truly embodying decentralization.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Understandably, many blockchains have chosen centralized cloud providers in the past because there wasn't much of an alternative. But now, the Decentralized Cloud (DeCloud) movement has changed all of that.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Here is how some specific audiences can benefit:
|
||||
|
||||
### For Node Operators
|
||||
|
||||
Any full node or validator node can run on ThreeFold’s [Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Cloud](https://cloud.threefold.io/), making that particular Blockchain even more community-owned, and more decentralized from an IT/cloud level. Any node operator can choose to run their nodes from any farmer location on the ThreeFold Grid, totally [peer-to-peer](https://threefold.io/blog/post/what_is_peer_to_peer/) between the chosen farmer and the node operator. The deployed workloads are computed in a P2P manner, no middle party involved.
|
||||
|
||||
### For dApp Developers
|
||||
|
||||
Web3/Blockchain developers can use ThreeFold’s P2P Cloud - offering both compute and storage - to build and power their applications in a truly decentralized cloud infrastructure, both blockchain-native and cloud-native. A strong advantage here is that developers have the ability to leverage Kubernetes, Docker, S3, and other cloud-native tools (all compatible / integrated with the ThreeFold) to power and optimize their data processing capabilities, as well as the overall functionality of their dApps. But the sweet spot is that it is deployed on a decentralized IT infrastructure, close to where users would be located.
|
||||
|
||||
## But why choose ThreeFold over other DeCloud projects?
|
||||
|
||||
There may be bigger names in the space, but ThreeFold's technology and offerings are much more comprehensive than the rest. ThreeFold provides decentralized storage, compute, and network all under one roof (whereas most other projects offer only one of the three) and as mentioned, we have created an environment for developers which is highly-compatible to the developer tools and solutions they use today. Further, ThreeFold is building new infrastructure [from the ground up](https://threefold.io/blog/post/an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid/) (rather than relying on extra space in data centers) and the technology is truly peer-to-peer.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
We already have [a number of partners in the space](https://threefold.io/partners/blockchain) who recognize these advantages.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Any blockchain protocol or dApp, whether operating DeFi, NFTs, DEXs, etc, will at some point need to leverage the power of the decentralized cloud and escape from centralized cloud providers. We’re seeing some of that adoption from a decentralized storage side with IPFS, which has been adopted by many dApps, and others – but as a developer, you will have to think twice, not just about where your/your users’ data is being stored, but also about how (and where) your app is computed and powered.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
**Participate now in our quest to fully decentralize the Internet by [becoming a node](https://threefold.io/farm) on our grid or [buying TFT](https://threefold.io/tft).**
|
||||
Binary file not shown.
|
Before Width: | Height: | Size: 130 KiB |
@@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: decentralzing_the_internet
|
||||
title: Decentralizing the Internet
|
||||
tags: [farming,threefold_grid,technology,peer_to_peer]
|
||||
category: [farming, grid, tech, aci, cloud, foundation]
|
||||
image: ./decentralizing_the_internet.png
|
||||
image_caption: technology internet
|
||||
excerpt: In this article, we discuss the general concept of a ‘decentralized grid’ and how anyone can plug-in capacity to the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
authors: [roel_van_sabben]
|
||||
created: 2019-08-21
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
In 1989, the Internet changed the world as we know it with the introduction of the World Wide Web. With time the Internet empowered people to share information in a decentralized way. Shortly after, big companies like Facebook, Google, and Apple emerged, providing many solutions that revolutionized the way we live. The “sharing economy” has grown exponentially over the last 5-10 years. This is thanks to a more simplified information flow and well-developed technology, which:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
- Enables a much easier integration of independent players into the sharing economy.
|
||||
- Eliminates the need for extensive management and structure of marketplace operators.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
We are entering a flat-structure economy. An economy where fewer managerial levels are needed for the system to function. New technologies such as blockchain and the Internet of Things facilitate this ongoing trend. Participants can now interact on a peer-to-peer basis, forming marketplaces and organizations according to pre-agreed, programmed contracts.
|
||||
|
||||
## The current Internet is centralized
|
||||
|
||||
Despite the growth in popularity for decentralized systems, organizations, and currencies, the Internet remains centralized. The centralization within the Internet industry brought many barriers to entry. Indeed, to compete in the highly competitive market of Internet capacity dominated by big IT companies, massive investment, and IT development are needed.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
But what is really scary is that the current industry exploits the market tremendously. Data is officially the most valuable asset on earth for a few years, and about 20 companies rule over more than 80% of the cloud industry. In other words - these companies together have more than 80% of the world's information. In recent years, we noticed the dangers that can arise with the wrong intentions within the data industry with the 'Cambridge Analytica Scandal', also highlighted in the movie ['The Great Hack'.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX8GxLP1FHo)
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
ThreeFold has been developing technology that allows the decentralization of the Internet infrastructure - removing the need for data centers, and allowing anyone to take part in the Internet capacity market. Adding capacity to the ThreeFold Grid (TF Grid) makes you a ThreeFold Farmer (TF Farmer). The more decentralized the Internet gets, the more secure and effective it will become. The already is the largest grid of compute and storage in the world.
|
||||
|
||||
## How To Participate
|
||||
|
||||
The process of becoming a ThreeFold Farmer is very straightforward. Anyone can join the ThreeFold Grid by downloading the ThreeFold Zero-OS onto their nodes and connecting them to the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
By doing this you will become an operator of a "micro data center" and with that earn ThreeFold Tokens. With or without experience in the field, anyone can become a ThreeFold Farmer. By becoming a ThreeFold Farmer, you empower a new neutral Internet that belongs to humanity - not corporations.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
You can build your server (3node) and configure it, but also options for people with less technical knowledge are available. Please see [pre-register.threefold.io](https://pre-register.threefold.io) to see how easy it is for anyone to become a ThreeFold Farmer.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
_Blog written in 2019, updated January 2021._
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
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|
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|
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@@ -1,133 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: threefold_foundation_32
|
||||
title: Edge Cloud, not Grid Cloud
|
||||
tags: [threefold_cloud, technology]
|
||||
category: [tftech, cloud]
|
||||
image: ./edge_cloud.png
|
||||
image_caption: cloud
|
||||
excerpt: The term Edge Cloud or, to be more precise, Edge Computing is one of the most exciting technology terms of these days.
|
||||
authors: [kristof_de_spiegeleer]
|
||||
created: 2018-08-22
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
## Edge Cloud, not Grid Cloud?
|
||||
|
||||
The term Edge Cloud or, to be more precise, Edge Computing is one of the most exciting technology terms of these days.
|
||||
|
||||
<iframe width="750" height="421" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7uA9aoIfMZo" frameborder="0" allow="aautoplay; encrypted-media;" allowfullscreen></iframe>
|
||||
|
||||
## Edge Computing Definition
|
||||
|
||||
According to Wikipedia, "**Edge computing** is a distributed computing paradigm in which computation is largely or entirely performed on distributed device nodes known as smart devices or edge devices as opposed to primarily taking place in a centralized cloud environment.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
In summary, this means that the cloud is divided into smaller pieces and distributed to the edge of the network.
|
||||
|
||||
## Drivers for Edge Computing
|
||||
|
||||
Some latency-sensitive applications require fast response times to work correctly. A good example is self-driving cars. A lot of decisions in autonomous vehicles have to be made instantaneously; the decision to react to the unexpected while driving at high speed cannot afford to be slowed down by data traveling long distances to be processed. To improve the system's reliability, additional hops, and any further points of failure must be eliminated. Moving to compute as far out as possible to the Edge is the logical choice.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
More generically, real-world situations are increasingly relying on an IT component to be involved in some form of decision making where time is of the essence. The current IT setup is that we have highly concentrated IT setups in data centers connected by fast networks to the rest of the world. This setup is rapidly becoming obsolete as we need to have the fastest possible response for everyday activities, which cannot sustain the time delay caused by (extended) network connections. Having actual data processing and storage facilities close to these real-world situations is the next IT capacity evolution.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
These thousands of situations are mostly in the IoT area. Still, other killer applications like streaming would greatly benefit from being served from the Edge rather than a distant central location.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
## Edge Computing Market Facts
|
||||
|
||||
Due to the billions of IoT devices driven by various use cases like autonomous driving, a massive demand for Edge Computing is evolving rapidly. According to the Digital Journal, the Edge Computing market is growing extremely fast. With a CAGR of over 35.0% and the market is expected to reach USD 33.75 billion by the end of 2023.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Source: [http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3394129](http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3394129)
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Edge Computing and Grid Computing are often used in the same context and sometimes are confused. For this article, we'd like to define the terms going forward as follows:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Grid Computing means a computer network of 100% distributed computer resources like processing power, memory, and data storage of similar or different types to which authorized people can run their computation workloads. That means that Grid Compute nodes are mostly in data centers and maybe dispersed over more extensive regions but are typically still far from the Edge. Compared to Edge Computing, Grid Computing environments are owned by more than one individual or company, and thus, controlled by many.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Edge computing has risen from a need to have data processing and storage as close as possible to real-world situations. The situation could be as simple as recording biometric data by a smartwatch to support the required information for a self-driving car to function as intended. The necessity comes from having local computing and storage capacity - it can be used by multiple use cases (situations) but does not have to.
|
||||
|
||||
## The Benefits of Edge Computing
|
||||
|
||||
Edge computing comes with specific benefits that are mandatory for the next evolution in the IT industry. We have optimized the central model to such a degree that the network connects the central capacity to use cases in the field, the next bottleneck. Edge computing is solving several challenges faced by real-world situations with the following benefits:
|
||||
|
||||
### Speed
|
||||
|
||||
**Speed** is probably the most crucial benefit of edge computing, as there are plenty of use cases that require near-real-time computing.
|
||||
|
||||
### Scalability
|
||||
|
||||
The scalability of edge computing also makes it incredibly [versatile](https://www.vxchnge.com/blog/edge-computing-use-cases). By partnering with local data centers further out on the Edge, companies can easily target desirable markets without investing in expensive infrastructure expansion. Edge data centers allow them to service end-users efficiently with little physical distance or latency. They also do not constrain companies with a substantial footprint, allowing them to shift to other markets rapidly should economic conditions change.
|
||||
|
||||
### Availability and Security
|
||||
|
||||
Traditional cloud computing architecture is, by definition, centralized, which makes it especially vulnerable to [distributed denial of service (DDoS)](https://www.vxchnge.com/blog/how-to-protect-data-centers-from-a-new-generation-of-ddos-attacks) attacks and power outages. Edge computing distributes processing, storage, and applications across a wide range of devices, nodes and data centers, which makes it difficult for any single disruption to take down the network which is why logically and geographically dispersed systems are often used for DDoS mitigation like in Content Delivery Networks (CDN)
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
By pushing everything to the cloud, you're leaving your business open to ISP failures and cloud server downtime. Many mission-critical operations like railroads and chemical plants won't even use the cloud today. Their server farms are the only way to guarantee uptime.
|
||||
|
||||
### Process optimisation
|
||||
|
||||
Another big benefit is process optimization. If self-driving cars were to use the cloud instead of the Edge, they'd be pushing all the data they gather up to the cloud. But if the Edge makes local decisions, the cloud may not need all that data immediately – or even at all.
|
||||
|
||||
## Requirements for Edge Computing
|
||||
|
||||
When compute and storage capabilities exist on the Edge, we need to overcome several challenges around capacity distribution. Most traditional IT technologies do not allow this as they live in large data centers where there is a lot of "care" for these technologies.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The most significant generic hurdle to overcome is that there is going to be a lot less "care" for the technology to rely on at the Edge. These "devices" have to be self-sufficient to no small degree. If we want to sum up some of the specifics of edge technology, this will come out:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
* A typical edge device or node must run an OS that comes in at a low cost or, ideally, for free like some open source offerings. This enhances the proliferation of capacity at the Edge.
|
||||
* Container technology must be embedded in the OS at the lowest possible level to create the maximum benefit of efficiency from the edge hardware: classic Virtual Machine environments are just too inefficient and resource consuming for edge use cases. There will be Virtual Machine based edge solutions, but these are going to be out there for a certain period, catering for current IT workloads to move to the Edge. The Edge's correct move can only happen when traditional IT applications split up into pieces and require a lot less capacity to run. Hence, it will convert over time to containerized technology.
|
||||
* Edge Computing hardware will consist of datacenter grade hardware and all sorts of other types of hardware. The Edge might include some smaller sized data center facilities but also include different types of "homes" for compute and storage equipment. Think of transportation as a specific use case - capacity on maritime vessels, capacity on trains, and vehicles' capacity. Hardware will have to accommodate different use cases, price levels, form factors, and power consumption.
|
||||
* Edge hardware needs a lightweight OS that is very close to the hardware components to get the maximum out of compute and storage capacity. Less is more - for real Edge capacity, local people won't be able to interact with edge capacity - one further step - there will be no need to have remote people access these devices for maintenance purposes. The ultimate edge computing solution will have a significant amount of self-sustainability - where there are no more highly technically skilled people required to keep the capacity available, up and running.
|
||||
* In most cases, Edge means being remote, and having no access to humans or humans are only too expensive for the specific use case.
|
||||
* Power outages or no network availability will cause system failures. The ideal OS to deal with this revolves around no people; the zero-touch approach should be stateless and needs to have self-healing capabilities run by automation software robots.<br />
|
||||
|
||||
## Existing Edge Computing Solutions
|
||||
|
||||
Today there are a few Edge Computing platforms out there that cover some requirements as outlined above.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
* Microsoft, for instance, launched products like Azure IoT Edge and Azure Data Box Edge to extend their Datacenter based Azure cloud offering to the Edge.
|
||||
* Another attempt to bring centralized cloud technology to the Edge is the Openstack Edge Computing initiative, which is in the concept phase only so far.
|
||||
* A new OS for the Edge is CoreOs, also known as Container Linux, which runs on nearly any platform, whether physical, virtual, or private/public cloud.
|
||||
* More recently, there are a few blockchain-driven technologies out there pushing for edge capacity to exist. Examples are:
|
||||
* [SIA](https://sia.tech/)
|
||||
* [Sonm](https://sonm.com/)
|
||||
* [Filecoin](https://filecoin.io/)
|
||||
* Content delivery networks with a lot of "capacity" sitting close to end-users are expanding their capabilities beyond content delivery
|
||||
* [Limelight](https://www.limelight.com/products/iot-and-edge-cloud/)
|
||||
* [Akamai](https://www.akamai.com/)<br />
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
## The Holy Grail
|
||||
|
||||
The holy grail would be a self-healing Edge Grid. Edge, because of all the benefits Edge Computing brings to the user: Speed, Scalability, Reliability, Security, Versatility, and Process Optimization. Grid, because it fulfills the distributed workload requirements, a classic centralized cloud would generally be used without a centralized nature and all its disadvantages.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Probably the most critical part of the ideal solution is self-healing. The biggest challenge of an Edge Computing environment is the dependency on local care: humans to maintain hardware and upgrade or fix software components. Self Healing needs to do the job here, which means zero people can be involved.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Only a self-healing mechanism with zero-people involved, completely decentralized, brings down the cost and provides more security to the environment, and makes it highly scalable.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Some of you may think that new blockchain-based technologies may be the holy grail. But they are not.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
In most cases, their implementations are too slow, and that's why it does not make sense to use them for production purposes. Another downside is the complexity of the application caused by stitching together 3rd party technologies. In many cases, these blockchain-based technologies are at a very early stage with beta implementations or even roadmap only type of technology.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The holy grail is something that hasn't been created before; it needs to be a versatile system that is self-manageable. A large global conglomerate should not own the capacity - it should be owned by many. Therefore, it should have a commercial model where people individually can decide to partake in building this global edge solution and where there is a defined return on investment for those partakers.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
A few groups of people, like us, are creating decentralized solutions for this, owned by the many, and creating services for all.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -1,37 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: escape_great_hack
|
||||
title: An escape from the Great Hack
|
||||
tags: [technology,why]
|
||||
category: [farming,cloud,twin,foundation,aci]
|
||||
image: ./escape_great_hack.png
|
||||
image_caption: technology hackers
|
||||
excerpt: I can’t help but think how unfair it is that in today’s digital society, people are being treated like products, because there is no such thing as a ‘free’ platform without YOU being the product.
|
||||
authors: [sabrina_sadik]
|
||||
created: 2019-11-21
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## The neutrality of the current Internet is in danger.
|
||||
|
||||
Have you seen ‘The Great Hack’ on Netflix? It’s a documentary about the Cambridge Analytica hacking scandal, where personal data of millions of peoples’ Facebook profiles were harvested without their consent and used for political advertising purposes.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
While watching it, I couldn’t help but think how unfair it is that in today’s digital society, people are being treated like products, because there is no such thing as a ‘free’ platform without YOU being the product. What did reassure me, is that people are sick of having their data used this way. But what they might not know, is that the internet problem is bigger than ‘just’ data protection.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The Internet is growing at an exponential rate. To service this demand, a few large companies (Google, Amazon, Alibaba, Facebook, etc.) have built and continue to build supersized, power-hungry and centralized data centers. These data centers make up the majority of all Internet capacity available today. However, the Internet is expanding much faster than datacenters and the planet can cope with.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
In addition to that, the Internet is extremely centralized, with most of these data centers being located in the US. Think of it like electricity. If consumers in, for example, Turkey had to use electricity generated in the US, it would be too expensive and inefficient, because it is too far away. The transmission lines would be too strained and losses and repairs would make it unsustainable. Capacity is like electricity. When centralized, it becomes too expensive and wasteful for remote users.
|
||||
|
||||
## So what is the solution to these problems?
|
||||
|
||||
The Internet needs to be more distributed, cost-effective, neutral, and sustainable. ThreeFold has developed such a new technology, the ThreeFold Grid (Grid) and a token which enables all this to happen.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Combining the values of the ThreeFold Foundation (freedom, equality and fairness) with the technology developed by TFTech (Zero-OS, Zero-Chain, 3Bot) and a digital currency called the ThreeFold Token (a decentralized digital currency and means of payment to exchange autonomous and decentralized Internet services) we believe that we have all the tools in order to actually make a difference in tomorrow's digital world. Question is, are you ready to join us?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Please visit [our forum](https://forum.threefold.io) if you have any questions or would like to continue the conversation!
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Binary file not shown.
|
Before Width: | Height: | Size: 933 KiB |
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: ethical_design_manifesto
|
||||
title: Creating solutions that respect humanity and the planet
|
||||
tags: [why]
|
||||
category: [farming,twin,cloud,foundation,aci]
|
||||
image: ./ethical_design_manifesto.png
|
||||
image_caption: humanity
|
||||
excerpt: Respect Human Rights, Respect Human Effort, Respect Human Experience
|
||||
authors: [kristof_de_spiegeleer]
|
||||
created: 2017-06-06
|
||||
---
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Organizations should always respect human rights, human effort and human experience. To enable a sustainable and prosperous civilization and world, we need a strong value system.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Ideas and texts were inspired from https://ind.ie/ethical-design/. We added our own twist to it.*
|
||||
|
||||
## Respect Human Rights
|
||||
|
||||
- **Sustainability**: It is important for a very simple reason: we cannot maintain our quality of life as human beings, the diversity of life on our planet, or Earth's ecosystems unless we embrace and protect its balance.
|
||||
- **Equality**: Everyone should have a right to learn, dream, partake and succeed. Equal access also means affordability, not ownership by big greedy companies.
|
||||
- **Decentralization**: To better distribute power, value and opportunities, we need more decentralization. Technologies and solutions should be available everywhere to improve equality and sustainability.
|
||||
- **Openness & Interoperability**: Allows technologies to work together in an open way, without limitation, and therefore expands the possibilities for innovation and sharing.
|
||||
- **Accessibility**: Whatever the location or situation, people should benefit from easy and fast access to information and solutions.
|
||||
- **Security & Privacy**: Protect people from being put in situations of danger or exploitation. People should be empowered to be independent and they should be the sole owners of their experiences.
|
||||
|
||||
## Respect Human Effort
|
||||
|
||||
- **Reliability**: Make sure technologies are reliable and last longer.
|
||||
- **Simplicity**: We need to keep things simple: no unnecessary complexity - less is more.
|
||||
- **Transparency**: Let people and companies work together in a 100% transparent way.
|
||||
- **Collaboration**: It's all about the greater picture. We are stronger together and have to help each other in reaching our common visions.
|
||||
|
||||
## Respect Human Experience
|
||||
|
||||
- **Ergonomy**: Products and solutions should empower productivity, safety and comfort, while reducing human error.
|
||||
- **Inclusiveness**: Design should always be global and inclusive. We are all equal.
|
||||
- **Design**: Products should be visually appealing and should achieve it's purpose.
|
||||
- **Transparency**: Organisational records and strategies should be accessible to everyone.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Photo by Renee Fisher on Unsplash.*
|
||||
Binary file not shown.
|
Before Width: | Height: | Size: 102 KiB |
Binary file not shown.
|
Before Width: | Height: | Size: 19 KiB |
@@ -1,59 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: for_our_planet
|
||||
title: A Better Solution for Our Planet
|
||||
tags: [threefold_farming,why]
|
||||
category: [farming,twin,foundation,cloud,aci]
|
||||
image: ./better_solution.png
|
||||
image_caption: sustainability
|
||||
excerpt: We believe IT can be sustainable. Actually, it should be! That's why energy efficiency has always been a key focus of ours..
|
||||
authors: [weynand_kuijpers]
|
||||
created: 2020-12-02
|
||||
---
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Today, the global Internet and IT infrastructure requires enormous amounts of energy, responsible for about 10% of annual global energy consumption. This makes the IT industry amongst the most pollutive industries in the world (along with the often-discussed airline industry, for comparison).
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
We believe IT can be sustainable. Actually, it should be! That's why energy efficiency has always been a key focus of ours. With climate change and sustainability as some of the most pressing issues of our times, new green solutions need to be our priority. It has been key to ThreeFold since the very beginning of its story to enable a technological infrastructure that can reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint drastically.
|
||||
|
||||
## Simplicity is the key to unlock a better future
|
||||
|
||||
Over time, integration suites, middleware solutions, and enterprise service busses have been invented and implemented to cover integration challenges within the current internet. This has further complicated IT architectures, resulting in a loss of actual end user workload performance.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
ThreeFold reworked the whole approach to IT architectures and eliminated the layers of complexity. The result is a cloud stack that presents minimal overhead and that requires less hardware – reducing heat generation and eventually cooling requirements. By reducing the need for power, the net result is an energy-efficient Internet grid.
|
||||
|
||||
## Improving resilience and efficiency through Self-Healing IT
|
||||
|
||||
Keeping systems up and running is a major requirement in modern day IT. Leading vendors earn most of their margin by selling maintenance contracts, performance guarantees, and professional services. Their business models bring no incentive to make things simple and efficient for consumers.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Creating a self-healing environment requires only minimal manual intervention to replace broken hardware components. Broken hardware components are inevitable, and the Zero-OS distributed node architecture deals with such failures by turning off broken components and provisioning unused capacity. By removing the need to ship broken parts back and forth, and linking to the corresponding installation knowledge (engineers), a lower carbon footprint can be achieved.
|
||||
|
||||
## “No painkiller” approach. We tackle the root issue
|
||||
|
||||
If a specific piece of software or hardware is not delivering the required performance or reliability, we should analyze the core design/algorithm and its usage of soft/hard components to determine the root causes of persistent issues to be solved.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Currently, most storage vendors follow the path of least resistance when trying to improve on performance. Their solution for meeting performance targets is to use faster components (CPU, memory, network card, proprietary acceleration) rather than looking at the core algorithms that drive the utilization of those components. Swapping components for faster ones perpetuates a cycle of cutting corners and focuses reliance on innovation from hardware component providers rather than solving the more fundamental and underlying issues. That's a "painkiller" approach.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Zero-OS was designed to solve root problem issues by design. While still using high-performance hardware components on the ThreeFold Grid, the algorithm of Zero-OS maximizes utilization possibilities. This enables greater performance and sustainability. Some key examples how this is achieved:
|
||||
|
||||
## Eliminating unnecessary elements from standard architectures
|
||||
|
||||
Virtualization adds a layer of software between the actual end-user workload and physical hardware. It also allows for multiple workloads to run on the same hardware by using excess capacity. There is definitely merit in building a virtualization solution. Building an effective virtualization solution that does not require abundant context switching is key and this is why Zero-OS has been developed. Zero-OS uses a minimal Linux kernel that allows for a number of user spaces to co-exist. In these user spaces, containerized versions of software can be run, eliminating the need for hypervisors, virtual OS to fuel the virtual machines, and guest operating systems. This also minimizes the required overhead for the host OS.
|
||||
|
||||
## Minimizing network connections usage
|
||||
|
||||
Supercomputing delivered many new technologies. But, not all of them are usable solutions for everyday workloads. One technology invented to make supercomputers performant is the use of Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA). RDMA allowed physical CPU boards (containing both CPUs and memory) to access other CPU boards in memory stored data over a dedicated channel. This eliminated the need to transport data between CPU nodes over network connections (or other mainstream means to exchange data). The result was a considerable reduction in overhead created when allowing distributed end user workloads to operate over multiple physical cores. The leading server and storage solutions brands have never considered nor implemented such mechanisms. This resulted in an increased need for faster networks - increasing complexity, costs, efforts and resources needed to operate solutions.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
RDMA is only used in certified farms and requires involvement of TFTech.
|
||||
|
||||
## Minimizing disk usage
|
||||
|
||||
The storage solution uses slow and big (the bigger the better) HDD disks which drive in rack density. As they spin slower they consume less power and need less cooling. But then, how can you deal with read/write intensive workloads? The storage algorithm uses a SSD cache to acknowledge Inputs/Outputs coming from the applications, fills the erasure coded data blocks in large (up to 64MB) storage containers and writes the big chunks of data on the big and slow HHDs. If you are familiar with HDD disks, you know they like to be streamed on instead of having a lot of small bits written in a scratchy way.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
**Continuous innovation in all of these areas are leading to an efficient technology stack.**
|
||||
@@ -1,86 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: how_it_works
|
||||
title: ThreeFold's Long Story Short
|
||||
tags: [technology,why]
|
||||
category: [farming,cloud,foundation]
|
||||
image: ./how_it_works.png
|
||||
image_caption: technology
|
||||
excerpt: The truth is that ThreeFold is a big project. Here we will try to make things a little simpler for you.
|
||||
authors: [sam_taggart]
|
||||
created: 2020-05-15
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## So, ThreeFold is building a new internet. Why?
|
||||
|
||||
We strongly believe that a new internet is needed for our planet and for humanity. "If not now, when? If not us, who?"
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
What it boils down to is that currently the internet is only available to about 1/2 of the world (meaning billions are being left behind), it is centralized (a handful of large corporations own and profit off of our data), and it uses up to 10% of the world’s energy consumption. So, we’re building a new (peer-to-peer) internet that empowers equality (access), autonomy (data ownership, for example), and sustainability (reduces energy consumption). These values drive us forward.
|
||||
|
||||
## How does it work?
|
||||
|
||||
Everything on the internet – websites, apps, photos, videos, etc – uses up capacity and is stored in huge data centers owned by big companies, mainly in North America, Europe, and some in Asia. In our solution, centralized data centers are replaced with a grid of “nodes” distributed around the world.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
These nodes are owned by [ThreeFold Farmers](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold/#/what_is_farming) – but only the physical hardware – the data inside of the nodes belongs to the people or organizations who put it there. So, “farmers” plug in hardware and start to create capacity that can be used by people.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Farmers come in all shapes and sizes. Some farmers run small data centers while others simply run a node out of their living room.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
When Farmers connect active hardware (add capacity) to the ThreeFold Grid, ThreeFold Tokens are created. Farmers can then sell those tokens to people who want to use capacity (e.g. a developer that wants to build or host a website, or a person who wants to store some photos). More on tokens down below.
|
||||
|
||||
## Seems quite lofty. How will you build it?
|
||||
|
||||
It’s true that rebuilding the internet is not so simple. But a lot of infrastructure has already been built and the technology is quite advanced. Over the past 2+ years (as of May 2020), independent ThreeFold Farmers have already plugged in more than 40,000,000 GigaBytes worth of storage and 15,000 CPU Cores across 21+ countries. That might not mean a lot to non-technical folks but it is quite a significant amount.
|
||||
|
||||
## 21+ countries? What happened to equality?
|
||||
|
||||
As far along as we are, we still have work to do. One of our biggest goals in the near future is to expand the grid to Africa, South America, and parts of Asia where currently the Internet is too expensive or not available. Currently, we farming is incentivized around these key geographies.
|
||||
|
||||
## And what do you mean by peer-to-peer?
|
||||
|
||||
Peer-to-peer means no middlemen – direct exchange of information and/or value between equal participants. Peer-to-peer means decentralization – breaking away from pyramid-based systems, greed-based systems – and putting **people** back in the center of their own (digital) lives.
|
||||
|
||||
## So how can I access / use your internet today? What can I do on it?
|
||||
|
||||
By June, some of the first experiences will be live. This includes file storage and communication tools and a virtual browser, all with the advantages of being more sustainable for our planet and with full control of your own data. And over time, more and more experiences will come to this internet. We’ll be updating here and on our communication platforms as they come. But don’t worry, as a user it doesn’t change much – no coding required. :)
|
||||
|
||||
## Will [enter website or app here] be available on your internet?
|
||||
|
||||
There are some tremendous reasons for a website or app to use our internet, but that will really be up to the website or the app. In the end, we are providing a responsible solution for responsible people and organizations. We would love to host anybody who believes in what we are doing!
|
||||
|
||||
## How are you making sure it’s safe?
|
||||
|
||||
Hacking has become a part of life and is almost impossible to avoid in the current systems – they are too complex and require too many people to operate. This results in less security which results in lots of security breaches. We took a look at the existing Internet (seven layers) and simplified it down to three layers. By simplifying the architecture and instead creating technology that is self-driving & self-healing, we removed the human requirement and therefore vastly minimized the possibility for hacking or human error. Then we also developed a storage algorithm which makes it such that if some of the information gets lost or stolen (somehow) or if some hardware goes down, it is all retrievable. Long story short, we flipped the existing system on its head.
|
||||
|
||||
## What about the data ownership part?
|
||||
|
||||
That has a bit to do with the security as well. Since you own your data, you decide who gets access. Which means your data isn’t just out “there” for the taking. Basically, we put you at the center of your digital life, where the applications and experiences you use serve you, not the other way around.
|
||||
|
||||
## And how is it better for the planet?
|
||||
|
||||
There are a few reasons for us being more sustainable. Data centers are super unsustainable, so the simple (but incomplete) answer is “no more huge data centers.” But if you want more detail:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
- We use up to 3x less hardware for the same output, and using hardware at least 2x longer while maintaining good performance
|
||||
- Having capacity everywhere, local to where users are – this reduces network requirements (and can even improve security)
|
||||
- Using new algorithms (e.g. the one mentioned above for storage) which have dramatic efficiency improvement
|
||||
- Re-using hardware where possible – let’s not throw away
|
||||
|
||||
## How much will it cost?
|
||||
|
||||
In the end we want to provide sustainable access to the internet and all of its solutions for less than a dollar per month per person but for now the cost will depend on what you choose to do. Certain experiences will cost money. Storing photos or videos, for example. But all at a fair price.
|
||||
|
||||
## Speaking of money – so what’s up with the ThreeFold Token?
|
||||
|
||||
As we mentioned above, tokens are generated when ThreeFold Farmers adds capacity to the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
|
||||
Essentially, the ThreeFold Token is the medium of exchange on the new internet. So, if a developer wants to build something (e.g. a website or an app) or a user wants to store something (e.g. photos), he/she/they use(s) ThreeFold Tokens.
|
||||
|
||||
## Need more answers?
|
||||
|
||||
We hope that helps explains things. Obviously there is [a whole wiki](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold/#/) to dive in to. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, please ask us on our [forum](https://forum.threefold.io)!
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Photo by Nong Vang on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/9pw4TKvT3po).*
|
||||
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|
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: in_search_of_a_better_internet
|
||||
title: "The Internet that connects us also manipulates us. In search of a better future."
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, data, peer-to-peer, why]
|
||||
category: [foundation]
|
||||
image: ./in_search_of_a_better_internet.png
|
||||
image_caption: The Internet that connects us also manipulates us. In search of a better future.
|
||||
excerpt: The Internet as we know it was once free and decentralized by nature. Over time, the Internet lost its neutrality. ThreeFold represents an opportunity to realize the initial promise of a distributed and neutral Internet owned by the people.
|
||||
authors: [hannah_cordes]
|
||||
created: 2022-04-05
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Internet is one of humanity’s [greatest inventions](https://coincodex.com/article/14083/threefold-host-the-cloud-at-your-house/). In its early days, it used to be [free and decentralized](https://theconversation.com/web-3-0-the-decentralised-web-promises-to-make-the-internet-free-again-113139) by nature. No single entity was able to control access to the web as it was built on the foundation of a peer-to-peer network of nodes owned by developers and researchers. Until the dot-com era. Throughout the early 2000s, large corporations took over the web. New platforms like YouTube and MySpace were launched and new infrastructure needed to be built at an extreme pace, starting the data revolution and changing the digital landscape forever.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Twenty years down the line, the Internet’s architecture has become highly centralized – owned by a handful of large corporations that act as the [gatekeepers](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/08/28/who-owns-the-internet) of our digital world. What was once an open and free platform accessible to anyone has long since built up barriers and lost its neutrality. Users are trapped in a cyberspace that exploits their personal data and allows censorship, hate speech, disinformation and political targeting to thrive.
|
||||
|
||||
## Going down the Rabbit Hole
|
||||
|
||||
The Wall Street Journal’s [investigation](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-11631713039) “The Facebook Files” and The New York Times’ audio series “[Rabbit Hole](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/podcasts/rabbit-hole-prologue.html)” are only some of the latest examples that depict the shocking impacts of the manipulation, mental health problems, and extremism that social media algorithms are fuelling. Nevertheless, these incidents are only a glimpse into all the ways we’re being affected and influenced about the way we see the world – by the tech giants and their algorithms. Tech giants like Google and Facebook have been surrounded by a constant stream of data privacy [scandals](https://www.wired.com/story/should-big-tech-own-our-personal-data/) as more and more whistleblowers expose their misconduct. However, there are plenty of other, hidden players using the tools and algorithms of social media platforms for their own agendas.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
[The Great Hack and the Social Dilemma](https://filmthreat.com/features/4-thought-provoking-movies-on-digital-privacy-and-security/) are great documentaries that shed light on how the Internet as we know it became compromised. They depict how algorithms are used to mine user data, control information feeds and manipulate our digital experiences. The [Trump Election and the Brexit vote](https://www.politico.eu/article/cambridge-analytica-chris-wylie-brexit-trump-britain-data-protection-privacy-facebook/) were heavily influenced by private companies like [Cambridge Analytica](https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/cambridge-analytica-files) that manipulated mass audiences through social media.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
By purchasing thousands of personal data points collected by social media platforms and analyzing them, companies like Cambridge Analytica are able to not only predict but influence the behaviour of each and everyone of us. Data collection and analysis to such an extent allow these companies to craft and push perfectly targeted messages to users in a way that’s optimized to sway their opinions in favour of whatever agenda they have.
|
||||
|
||||
## Can a neutral and free Internet still exist?
|
||||
|
||||
On 24th of March 2022, the European Parliament and Council negotiators agreed upon the [Digital Markets Act](https://variety.com/2022/digital/global/facebook-google-amazon-apple-digital-market-act-europe-regulation-1235214516/) (DMA). It seeks to give users more choice by demanding the most popular apps to open up and interoperate with smaller apps. Moreover, the act aims to ensure a fairer market competition by prohibiting certain gatekeeper practices like self-preferencing and targeted advertising. This set of new EU regulations is likely to impact the daily business of tech giants significantly once it becomes law. While the [DMA](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20220315IPR25504/deal-on-digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-competition-and-more-choice-for-users) promises to mitigate some of the issues discussed, it is doubtful that the act will be enough to fundamentally change the current system. This is a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The Internet has become our digital home. It’s impacting our lives in many ways by creating new opportunities, and changing how we communicate and connect. Therefore, it is crucial to restore the Internet’s neutrality to ensure a fair and equal environment. We need an Internet where we can rely on data security and privacy. An Internet where we’re empowered to truly and completely have ownership of and control of our own data. An Internet that empowers us with digital sovereignty.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The Internet used to be a free movement of culture and the Web. It started with an open-source and peer-to-peer vision to connect people. And while Web 3.0 projects are looking to liberalize the Internet as we know it, most of them still rely on centralized Web 2.0 infrastructure to some degree. The world needs better, holistic solutions. ThreeFold is [realizing the initial vision and promise](https://threefold.io/blog/post/realizing_the_promise/) of the Internet as an open-source, peer-to-peer planetary mesh network of nodes owned by humanity. It’s a 100% open-source and community-driven project that builds the critical, neutral infrastructure for a decentralized world – one that is built and owned by the people. With ThreeFold, individuals and organizations are empowered to store their data and run their applications on a peer-to-peer network of nodes in a way that ensures their data will not be manipulated, hacked or lost.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Powered by a global community, ThreeFold is the world’s largest peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure with a few thousand 3Nodes connected from 74 countries and the neutral foundation for [any current and future IT workload](https://medium.com/authority-magazine/the-future-is-now-kristoff-de-spiegeleer-of-threefold-on-how-their-technological-innovation-will-7acc0e51c365). ThreeFold is now on the verge of opening up a new Internet era free from censorship, user tracking and privacy breaches. And anyone can participate in ThreeFold’s model by building or buying a 3Node, and connecting Internet capacity from their home or office – creating a fully [decentralized Internet](https://coincheckup.com/blog/threefold-is-the-decentralized-web-the-future-of-the-internet/).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
* Join the ThreeFold [movement](https://t.me/threefold) today and drive a new Internet era.
|
||||
* Break free from big tech and [be the Internet](https://threefold.io/blog/post/what_is_farming/) by setting up a 3Node at your home.
|
||||
* Help us [connect the dots](https://threefold.io/blog/post/connecting_the_dots/).
|
||||
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|
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: internet_destroying_brain
|
||||
title: Response - The Internet is Destroying Our Brains, but We Can't Quit
|
||||
tags: [why, peer_to_peer, digital_twin, technology]
|
||||
category: [farming, cloud, foundation, aci, twin]
|
||||
image: ./internet_destroying_brain.png
|
||||
image_caption: The Internet is Destroying Our Brains
|
||||
excerpt: A response to a poignant article written by P.E. Moskowitz on the dangers of today's Internet.
|
||||
authors: [sam_taggart]
|
||||
created: 2021-07-01
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The other day, I came across [a poignant article](https://africa.businessinsider.com/strategy/the-internet-is-destroying-our-brains-but-we-cant-quit-its-a-factory-were-forced-to/z4drxf5) written by [P.E. Moskowitz](https://twitter.com/_pem_pem) entitled "The internet is destroying our brains, but we can't quit. It's a factory we're forced to work in without any pay." As someone who started out in social media advertising (read: trying to capture peoples' attention to get them to buy or do something often by using their data against them), worked in influencer marketing in its early days, and has now gone 180º to help to build a decentralized Internet by people and for people (where people are digitally sovereign), it really resonated with me.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
It's commonly-discussed (see: The Social Dilemma) and quite obvious if you use or have used the Internet and specifically social media, that we are addicted to being online. In fact, we're actually even chemically triggered by social media and other online experiences. Said Jeff Orlowski, director of The Social Dilemma, "Social media powerhouses like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are “designed” to exploit users’ brain chemistry in order to keep them glued to their phones... They were designed to get us to come back. It’s to figure out how to reverse-engineer what we’re most vulnerable to, most susceptible to, to come back. And what we are seeing is a dopamine response in the brain."
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
In their article, Moskowitz points out how the Internet is not just like a toxic relationship or junk food, where you can leave or stop yourself from eating, rather it's "an all-encompassing technology, our main economic engine, the tool we are forced to use to meet others and mediate our entire lives."
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The truth is that the Internet *has* become more than an addiction, it's become a necessity to keep up in today's increasingly-digital world. Yet the Internet is not even accessible to about 40% of the global population – and for those who *do* have access, it does not serve us. It's actually the other way around. We are the product.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
"We produce the memes, tweets, posts, and pictures that keep us tethered to the internet, and then that content is monetized in the form of advertisements - revenue users help produce, but do not usually see a penny of," says Moskowitz. We have become cogs in a machine that uses us for its own benefit. Or as they call it, "a factory we're forced to work in without any pay."
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
"Our entire society has been reformulated around the internet, much like it was centered around the factory during the Industrial Revolution. If there's an Amazon Web Services outage, much of our society stops functioning. Without the internet, we couldn't find jobs, or, at this point, even friends."
|
||||
|
||||
## So, what do we do?
|
||||
|
||||
Moskowitz is correct in their thinking when they say the following, "A solution to our current internet-use crisis cannot come at an individual level anymore than one person quitting their job would solve capitalism's poor working conditions. If we want any hope of making the internet less stressful, less back-breaking, and more fulfilling, content creators, gig economy workers, and even casual internet users need to push for a systemic solution."
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Simply pending less time on the Internet or using certain apps instead of others is not going to make much of a difference in the end. There are billions of people on the Internet today to make up for the loss. And the underlying system is still massively flawed and can be manipulated. Bold, widespread, systemic change is indeed what we need. A revolution, perhaps.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
As pointed out recently [in TGDaily](https://tgdaily.com/web/6-dfinity-threefold-are-leading-an-internet-decentralization-revolution/), ThreeFold is that revolution.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
ThreeFold is the engine for a *new* Internet, driven by a movement of people who care about a better future. With more than two decades of direct knowledge of the Internet and Cloud industries, we flipped today's Internet on its head. We rebuilt the architecture from the ground up, with people and our planet at the center of our focus. Instead of relying on centralized hyper-scale data centers owned by a few private corporations, we provide the opportunity for people across the world with access to a network connection and electricity to plug in hardware and provide local capacity, and earn income while they are at it.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
In our model, we prioritize simplicity, security, efficiency, and privacy. The technology runs autonomously, removing human error and malicious intent from the equation. Connections are peer-to-peer, meaning no middlemen get in the way of our content, our transactions, or other data. And importantly, people own their data. What we produce is ours. We decide where it gets stored and we decide who can access it (and for what value). In fact, it's basically impossible from a technical standpoint for anybody to access someone's data without their consent – including us.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
On top of the technology, we provide experiences. People will have one single log-in and verifiable identity, and gain access to the tools (experiences) they need for communication and for work. As we are a decentralized movement, soon, anybody will be able to build anything they like on top of ThreeFold – but it is our vision and belief that the Internet should not be addictive. Rather a tool for all of humanity to connect, learn, and prosper – with people at the center, not treated as products.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
To the author's concern, content creators and gig economy workers would clearly benefit from such a digital world as well. Of course services like Airbnb or Uber or Etsy or even YouTube provide value as they are crowded marketplaces both for providers and customers. That said, they profit from people, typically on both sides of the transaction. In a peer-to-peer world, we can create fair and equal marketplaces where the content or product is owned completely by the person listing it there and the value goes 100% directly from person to person. This means no hidden fees, no uncertainty over ownership, no censorship or control from a third party. Of course it's not all predetermined at this moment, but what I can say is that our biggest concerns in what we create are and will always be fairness and equality (and sustainability / regeneration). So, together, we will bring all of this tolife in the best interest of people.
|
||||
|
||||
## Join the Movement
|
||||
|
||||
In their article, Moskowitz concluded that "perhaps it is only a matter of time before enough of us say 'enough,' and protest the internet's totalizing grasp on our labor and our lives." But where does protest lead without a viable solution? Maybe this is the type of systemic change Moskowitz could imagine and could stand behind. It's not a band-aid approach, rather a total re-imagination and re-execution of today's flawed and manipulative Internet. It's an Internet by people, for people. Instead of working in the factory, we become the factory co-owners – and the Internet works for us.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
If you believe in what we are building, we invite you to join the movement:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
- [Become a farmer](https://threefold.io/farming)
|
||||
- [Stay updated on ThreeFold News](https://t.me/threefoldnews)
|
||||
- [Join the conversation](https://t.me/threefold)
|
||||
- [Test the technology](https://t.me/threefoldtesting)
|
||||
- [Follow us on Twitter](https://twitter.com/threefold_io)
|
||||
- [Buy the ThreeFold Token](https://library.threefold.me/info/tfgrid/#/threefold__how_to_buy_and_sell)
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
We are a growing group of people from around the world who not only believe what many of you believe, but we are doing something about it. Let's grow the People's Internet, together.
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,90 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: internet_is_growing_wild
|
||||
title: Internet is growing wild
|
||||
tags: [technology,why,threefold_grid]
|
||||
category: [farming,cloud,foundation,aci]
|
||||
image: ./internet_is_growing_wild.png
|
||||
image_caption: planet
|
||||
excerpt: The internet is growing at an extremely fast pace, but is that a good thing?
|
||||
authors: [andreas_hartl]
|
||||
created: 2019-12-05
|
||||
---
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The current growth of internet needs 4000+ new large scale data centers of computer systems. The global data growth will reach more than 40 Zetabytes by 2020 which represents an average yearly growth of 42% starting at 4.5 Zetabytes in 2013. To host all this data, over 4000 new big data centers have to to be built. And to achieve this goal, $ 1 trillion USD investment capital is needed and land totalling the size of the UK would be needed.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The Internet is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. In this article we'll explain why that's not always such a good thing and where we see opportunities.
|
||||
|
||||
## Internet capacity needs to become localized
|
||||
|
||||
A big majority of users in the world connect to servers that are not present in their region and as such experience higher costs and low performance. According to a study by datacentermap.com, 80% of the data centers of the current Internet's service providers are based in the U.S. and Europe. The rest of the world has scarce Internet resources dotted around territories.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
As a consequence most Internet users use Internet-based services running on infrastructure which is located far away from their physical location and most likely outside their country's borders. This decreases the general end-user experience (latency) but also adds unnecessary costs to transporting the information back and forth. Also, it adds legislation and compliance headaches to enterprises.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Our mission is to empower and inspire people to recognize abundance by living new experiences one hour at a time.
|
||||
|
||||
## The Internet needs to perform better
|
||||
|
||||
Compute and Storage vendors create poor-performing solutions. There have been yearly improvements in hardware following Moore's law. While this has allowed ThreeFold to progress and innovate, it has also led to software developers taking these advances for granted; cutting corners where they can, creating sub-optimal code and allowing software components to be layered on top of each other to achieve certain behavioral functionalities.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The inefficiencies have now led to a situation where organically-grown IT architectures are immensely complex. They use a variety of components from different software and hardware vendors integrated by so called 'integrators'. The overall effort and cost involved to create, operate and maintain such architectures is growing continuously and requiring an ever-increasing budget and resourcing to continue.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
If we could go down to the core algorithms and take another look at these, and innovate at the heart of technology instead of applying patches and pain killers, we would be able to create much more end-user capacity than what systems provide today. Systems will last longer and will not have to be replaced by faster ones. Also, fewer engineers will be needed to create, operate and maintain these systems. Combined, these elements would present a more stable and reliable platform that can achieve higher levels of uptime.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Only upsides, right? Well a huge downside of such an approach is that vendors will make less revenue and more importantly less margin as systems will run for longer, be more stable and require less updates. So why would vendors innovate at the core of their solution?
|
||||
|
||||
## The Internet needs to become more sustainable
|
||||
|
||||
Did you know that the current Internet is responsible for between 5 and 10% of global energy consumptions? Making it more harmful to our planet than the airline Industry. The good news is that we can achieve 10x more power efficiency by addressing certain areas such as storage.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
ThreeFold believes IT can do a much better job at being more sustainable - in fact ThreeFold believes it can reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint by 10 times compared to other industry standards in IT capacity producing solutions.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Power consumption is a function of better compute and storage performance that in theory would require more racks and cooling. ThreeFold's architectural approach brought solutions that enables it's Farmers to achieve roughly 3 times the performance per rack (so it uses fewer racks) and the racks require less energy than typical racks in the industry.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Read more about how ThreeFold achieves sustainability in [the following blog](https://www.threefold.io/blog/post/for_our_planet/).
|
||||
|
||||
## The Internet needs to become more affordable
|
||||
|
||||
The biggest cost in running IT architectures is the human cost. Today's complex systems, built out of ‘band aid and patches’ point solutions, organically-grown and badly documented IT infrastructures, need an armada of people to keep them ticking. Even though this is an example, one can learn a lot from the trends that are presented:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
- On average an IT budget takes 5% of overall revenues
|
||||
- IT consumes 6.5% of the total number of Full-time equivalent in the company, of which 85% are insourced and 15% on payroll. This means that the enterprise doesn't retain internal know-how to operate their IT.
|
||||
- About 50% of IT budgets are spent on Infrastructure ane operations. Similarly, a big part goes to applications. A mere 5% is considered to be internal overhead within the IT department.
|
||||
- Around 65% of the IT budget is spent on resources and services, around 35% is spent on hardware and software.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
These figures present industry average numbers and paint a troubling picture that IT is a sizeable part of an overall budget, and that most spending is going to have the right knowledge skills insourced to the organisation to run the core IT architecture it relies on. For any other discipline in any organisation this would present an unacceptable risk to the business and its continuity - strangely not for IT.
|
||||
|
||||
## The Internet needs to become self-healing
|
||||
|
||||
The biggest source of downtime in computer systems is people. Getting people involved in fixing infrastructure problems creates the risk of accidentally causing more system downtime. A very recent example on this hit a large organisation cloud service provider.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
20+ years ago when Internet data centers came into existence next to telecom points of presence (POP), the level of complication in architecting, and building and maintaining these infrastructures exploded. From an already reasonable complicated technology setup to transport packets of data around the globe, these information warehouses were created where data was uploaded to, processed, and the obtained results sent back to end users on the other side of the globe.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Managing a data center that contains solutions for information transportation, storage and processing is not an easy task and the growth of data volume uploaded, stored and processed has exponentially increased. The number of technologies invented and implemented in regards to the processing and storing of information has also exploded. This resulted in a double exponential growth in complexity to architect, build, operate and maintain these IT systems.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The time has come that we no longer rely on people to do the right thing in case of emergency - the complexity is overwhelming and the dependency on the availability of that information is huge. Having people to do manual deployments and operational responsibilities does not provide the agility and speed to keep up with the continuous exponential growth of the industry. It is time to take the human element out of IT and let smart and autonomous systems to take over. This will also let people focus on more creative activities.
|
||||
|
||||
## The world needs a responsible internet
|
||||
|
||||
On a humanitarian level the opportunities for creativity, learning and development are currently negatively influenced by a lack of access to performant and affordable Internet services. Since [Internet access is a human right](https://www.businessinsider.com/un-says-internet-access-is-a-human-right-2016-7#:~:text=Due%20to%20the%20lack%20of,20.), it should protect the status quo between the developed and less-developed regions of our world.
|
||||
|
||||
## The Internet is growing fast, with the wrong solutions
|
||||
|
||||
It is evident that the current solutions are super unsustainable and make no sense. Luckily, ThreeFold and many other start-ups are deploying new solutions.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Photo by Jeremy Thomas on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/jh2KTqHLMjE).*
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,172 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: interview_with_jimber
|
||||
title: Interview – Designing Solutions for a P2P Future
|
||||
tags: [peer_to_peer, threefold_grid, technology]
|
||||
category: [farming, threefold_grid, threefold_token, foundation]
|
||||
image: ./interview_with_jimber.png
|
||||
image_caption: interview with jimber
|
||||
excerpt: An interview with Jonas Delrue from Jimber, the team developing P2P solutions like video chat and office workspace, using the Digital Twin platform. Digital Twin is a use case on top of the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
authors: [scott_yeager]
|
||||
created: 2021-08-26
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Earlier this month, I met with Jonas Delrue from Jimber, the team developing P2P solutions like video chat, office workspace, isolated web browser, and messaging, using the Digital Twin platform. Digital Twin is a use case on top of the ThreeFold Grid. We talked about the technical hurdles and motivations for developing private, decentralized, and open source alternatives to popular products from major corporations.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*The following has been edited lightly for clarity and flow.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
I'm wondering about this video chat solution that we're using for the interview right now. Building reliable video conferencing took a long time for the industry to get right, as far as I understand, and this seems very comparable in performance to Zoom. What did it take to produce this, what challenges came up, and what open source components are you using?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Yes, the solution is fully open source, using Janus as a back end which is a signaling and MTU server that handles all the traffic. But the main reason why we created our own solution is because we want to deploy the solution on the ThreeFold Grid and make a really decentralized video application. So everyone can start their own video room and the data will only be shared between the members of the room, instead of going through Zoom.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*The reasons for this have become very clear in the latest developments at Zoom where they had the lawsuits for end-to-end encryption. So something that our solution will offer is not only end-to-end encryption but also the traffic won't go through central points – so there's no way for us to eavesdrop on any of the conversations as a company since we're not included in the process. So that's the main reason that we created this one.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Very cool. I know for Zoom free accounts, all traffic is routed through servers in the United States which also has performance implications for anyone in other parts of the world. You have this big transatlantic hop back and forth for people talking to each other in different parts of Europe, for example, which could create lag or dropouts. And of course, the privacy feature is super important, because if we're using Zoom or any other centralized service it's a black box. They say your connections are end-to-end encrypted, but there's no way to verify that without open source code and self hosting.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Yep, so what we offer is fully open source, and using the Digital Twin platform you'll be able to start your own solutions, so it's fully in your own hands.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Do you know what kind of resources are required to run the video chat server?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*The CPU and memory usage on the server is very low, but bit rate depends on how good your connection is and how high quality you want to use. Right now we have some default quality but we will be able to make that configurable, so you'll be able to choose how much data that you want to consume during your conversation, which will of course imply a better or a worse resolution and experience.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Totally. I've heard that we should be able to host many Digital Twins on a single node. I'm curious of your thoughts on that. How many Digital Twins do you think we could run on a single Titan node or server in a rack?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*That's a hard one. I'd have to check for real numbers on the current implementation, but the thing is that there's not really a hard limit, as long as you keep improving your software and making it more efficient, making it more suitable to the scaling case. Right now in centralized systems this mostly is not a concern, but if you make it more suitable to self hosting and the digital twin scenario, then we should be able to get really far on that.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*It's going to take some effort and time to improve it and to make it better so the usage goes down, while the hardware also gets better so it's two ways. I think in the long run we should be able to host really lots and lots of Digital Twins on one single node. It also depends on what you're doing on the Digital Twins, if everyone is doing video conversations it will of course have more consumption than if everyone is just chatting in text.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
There's a good number of features here in video chat already like the background replace and some others I was impressed to see already during my testing. Of course Zoom has many more features like hosting these large conferences, breakout groups, allowing people to raise their hand digitally. I'm wondering what features are on the road map for this solution and what should we expect to see coming next?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Raising hands is one of the things that we're developing now, but we're mostly doing improvements at the back end so we can get a more efficient solution and a solution that is better suited to the decentralized way of working. Now, we don't have the size of team that Zoom has of course at this point, so we're a bit slower in releasing new features. We do have a list of things that we want to implement in the near future. Things like waiting rooms and all the stuff that you came up with, they're on the road map but not for the very short term since right now we're really focusing on getting this thing working in a decentralized way on the Grid.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
That makes sense. And what is the status of that? Are we using the Grid right now, or is this a staging server?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*This is a production server of Jimber. We use this one to talk to our employees, so for internal calls, and we're also using it to talk to clients. We've been using it for over six months without any problems so it's really production ready, but this version is not running on the Grid right now. We do have deployments on the Grid that work perfectly.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Good to know. Is that something that someone with the proper amount of knowledge and motivation could test for themselves already, running the solution on the Grid?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Yeah, they should be able to. It might be that they still need a little bit of help from the technical team, but it should be doable, yes.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Cool, I'll put that on my list of things to try out. So that's video chat. Do you see any challenges arising from quirks of the Grid in implementing any features or scaling things up to a certain level. Is there anything that's tricky about moving something like this onto the Grid?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*It's more about the Digital Twin than the meeting solution itself. Right now we're really working on getting the Digital Twin able to launch for a single person, so we're checking out how we'll do the deployments, the payment flow, things like that.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*So for us, that's the challenge right now, but in the long run it's probably going to be scaling, being sure that the Digital Twin runs close enough to the person actually using it, being sure that the interaction between Digital Twins is really fast and with low latency. Things like that will of course be a huge challenge, and also keeping everything private, making sure that everything is secure is also a bit challenging.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Another big challenge is that users are not used to a decentralized environment. So if you lose your seed phrase or in some way destroy your own Digital Twin, it's decentralized so we can't access it. There isn't a company that can just look into the big system and fix it for you. You are a bit responsible for your own system so that's also a bit of a challenge. So to get users informed and make software that's really easy for them, where they can't mess things up, and where users can give us enough logs when something goes wrong to help them in a decentralized way.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
For sure, I know that's a big concern around our VDC solution as well. You onboard someone into the system and they need to take responsibility for their own data and deployments. I think that's a huge issue across this space right, you want to give people the power but they also need to be able to take the responsibility. We'll see how that goes, as users start to come onboard and what kinds of challenges they run into.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Yeah, that's going to be the fun part, once users really start onboarding and start using everything. It's mostly a stressful situation at first if you launch a new product, but we're going to be starting off with a beta version so we don't get too much ahead of ourselves. Using the beta period to really get the software to be at the point where we need it for production will probably be the best step, to take the stress a bit off the team, and in the next version we can go full fledged production with a really nice product.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
How soon do you think we'll be ready to invite some members of the community to start testing?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*We want to have a version ready for September, so that's what we're looking at.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Great. Let's shift gears and talk about the file browser and office solution, which I've also tested. It's very cool. You're able to preview images and videos, edit documents, and more. I understand it's at least two open source components, you have the file browser and OnlyOffice working together.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*So the file browser is totally made by us, it's fully new. We use OnlyOffice as a document service to edit the documents, and right now you can already share documents with other people and collaborate on documents. We're building a kind of online office alternative that is owned by you and where your files are safe from companies trying to get data from it to give you specific advertisements and that sort of thing.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Okay, I didn't realize that the file browser piece had been built in house.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*It's still very basic. It doesn't have all the features of the big ones yet. It has the basic functionality—you can upload files, make folders, put the files in the folders, open files, collaborate, save them, share with people, all of those things are available, so it's pretty usable. This has been launched in a staging version right now, so it's not available to the full public yet but it should be available in September when we launch the first Digital Twin version.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
I've tested it, and it works really well. I'm curious again—obviously building something like this isn't a small task. Building an alternative to products from massive corporations with huge budgets and teams. So for your team, what are the challenges and how did you make this work?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Of course using open source components like OnlyOffice is a big difference. It'd be hard to make all of the documents services ourselves—that would be really insane. So using open source components is a big key factor in this, but a second thing is that our team has been building and trying out stuff like this for a few years so we do have some experience in building these kinds of tools.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
So in Digital Twin we also have the chat solution. Is there anything about chat that's cool or unique?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*We're looking at the big modern chat applications for our ideas there, as well as adding some new stuff in it. For the most part you have all the features that you need. You can send text messages and audio streams. You can send GIFs, which is of course the most important feature in any chat application. Then there's, block users, delete users, add users to make group conversations, share files with the whole group, all the things like that.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Does that mean that we should be able to switch from Telegram sometime in the near future?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*I hope so yeah, it would be really cool when we can do that. The biggest difference of course is the underlying decentralized architecture.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
So finally, to wrap up, maybe you could talk a bit about how privacy and security is handled? We have end-to-end encryption, we have self hosting of data. What does that look like and how is it built?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*In terms of the platform itself, that's something that the ThreeFold core team is more working on, so I know the principles and know how it works but I can't give you real technical details. As for what we build, the biggest tool that we use right now for end-to-end encryption is Yggdrasil or the Planetary Network, as we refer to it in ThreeFold. So that's a technology where multiple computers form one grid and they can exchange messages with each other which are fully end-to-end encrypted, using the standard TCP stack of those nodes. In that way we can communicate between Digital Twins in a very easy way, using standard technology, but just changing the underlying network architecture.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Totally, I know a bit about Yggdrasil. I haven't had a chance to test it myself, but it's super exciting technology, right? It allows anyone behind a firewall to still have a public address where they can still be reachable on IPv6 and everything is encrypted.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*And as soon as you're connected to one node, you're connected to every one of them, because they all forward the packets, all end to end encrypted. So it's a really cool technology.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Absolutely, and it's great to be able to build on this kind of stuff. Like you're saying, the open source components give us a big head start in trying to build these alternatives.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Indeed.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Is there anything else you'd like to say about what you all have been building over there?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*The whole ride has been really cool, we're kind of working on a few things at once, and ThreeFold is one of the components of it. For us it's a very exciting project, it's very technical and building something entirely new that doesn't exist yet using all these open source components. So for the team it's a very cool challenge, we really like to work on it, and it drives the team to create something really cool. It's a great opportunity.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
I love that, and it's a big reason I'm excited to be involved with ThreeFold as well: building something that's totally new, going from 0 to 1, and then inviting the world to come check it out and enjoy all the benefits.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Oh yeah, I forgot to ask about the web browser. I understand that Jimber has been building this for a while and I've seen some things about this on your website. So the web browser solution essentially renders the webpage on the back end and just shows the user an image of it?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Yeah, it caches the page on the back end and forwards the data to the client where it's rendered. So the code of the website itself doesn't reach you, and that's a solution that we use for multiple things. One is to protect APIs from getting attacked by users, what we call web application isolation. The second use case is where we have an office environment where people browse the internet and they use our solution to kind of make a gap between the computer in the company and the internet itself. But they can still browse the web and use all their favorite tools without having the risk of getting viruses and things like that.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
I didn't realize that there's benefit on the server end as well. So by requiring users to interact with a web service through the browser solution, that provides isolation for the app as well?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*If users are going to the service they are going through our browser, which will fetch the service for you and just give you a state of how it looks so that way we can really protect the back end of the applications from multiple attacks.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
And does this effectively provide a VPN for users as well?
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*It's kind of the same thing, yes.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
That's super exciting. Something that folks ask me about when they learn about ThreeFold is hosting VPNs on the Grid as a way to get the benefits of VPN in a decentralized way.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
*Yggdrasil is a bit closer to a VPN than our browser itself, but they pretty much help each other out. The browser in the ThreeFold network is used to protect the Digital Twin itself, to make it very secure and private for you, but the browser can also be used to browse websites from any country in the world without restrictions. So it can be used in that way too, which is kind of similar to how people at home use VPNs.*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
That's good to know. Well, I really like the bigger picture here of an internet experience that's end-to-end encrypted, where all of your data is under your control, and you have the anonymity and privacy that a VPN would provide. It's very exciting stuff, and I'm looking forward to sharing about it with our larger community.
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: intro_to_farming
|
||||
title: An intro to ThreeFold Farming
|
||||
tags: [farming]
|
||||
category: [farming,threefold_grid,threefold_token]
|
||||
image: ./intro_to_farming.png
|
||||
image_caption: internet farming
|
||||
excerpt: We probably don’t need to tell you that the invention of Blockchain technology changed the world dramatically..
|
||||
authors: [andreas_hartl]
|
||||
created: 2020-02-03
|
||||
---
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
We probably don’t need to tell you that the invention of Blockchain technology changed the world dramatically. The ThreeFold application of Blockchain technology to compute and storage capacity is one of the most exciting initiatives we have seen to date.
|
||||
|
||||
## The problem
|
||||
|
||||
There are some major challenges with the current foundation of the internet and how it has moved from being a medium to independently share information amongst internet users to a multi-billion dollar industry governed by a few (American) companies.
|
||||
|
||||
## The solution
|
||||
|
||||
The ThreeFold Foundation has the key to change the internet for good, and you might want to play a big role in this. And so can you! By becoming a farmer you are taking part in that process. You are contributing to a significant increase in Net Neutrality which has come under serious threat in recent years. You are helping to build a more sustainable Internet for generations to come by giving the internet back to the people.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
_The ThreeFold Foundation has created end-to-end technology that creates a very stable digital currency with neutral, private and distributed capacity generating hardware as a financial backing mechanism._
|
||||
|
||||
## The ecosystem
|
||||
The ThreeFold Ecosystem is a token economy where tokens (digital currency) are being generated (and therefore financially backed) by internet capacity generating equipment, owned by anyone and housed anywhere. By building and creating internet capacity owned and operated by all of us, we can create wealth and business opportunities for anyone in the world. Also, this sets the foundation for a more stable digital currency to emerge.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Now is the best time to become a ThreeFold Farmer. Anyone who signs up now to purchase and connect Internet capacity servers or create capacity pools, will be part of the first ones doing so and therefore will enjoy a higher return on investment than people joining at a later stage.
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: intro_tf_token
|
||||
title: An Intro to the ThreeFold Token
|
||||
tags: [threefold_token,blockchain]
|
||||
category: [farming,foundation]
|
||||
image: ./intro_tf_token.png
|
||||
image_caption: tokens crypto
|
||||
excerpt: The ThreeFold Token (TFT) is a decentralized digital currency used to buy autonomous and decentralized Internet services (compute, storage, and application) on the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
authors: [sacha_obeegadoo]
|
||||
created: 2020-01-04
|
||||
---
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The ThreeFold Token is the currency of the new Internet. It is a decentralized digital currency that represents a unit of reservation of capacity (compute, storage) on the largest peer-to-peer network of capacity on earth.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Capacity is a new high-demand market, and the TFT will be the medium of exchange for this commodity on the peer-to-peer internet brought by ThreeFold. TFT synergistically connects the world of cloud and blockchain markets to the most scalable universal substrate without compromising, performance, security and privacy.
|
||||
|
||||
## How are ThreeFold Tokens created?
|
||||
|
||||
No ThreeFold Tokens have ever been minted. ThreeFold Tokens are generated through a process called “Farming”. Farming happens when active internet capacity is added to the ThreeFold Grid. Independent farmers earn ThreeFold Tokens (TFT) by providing neutral and decentralized internet capacity, thus expending the usable Grid. Therefore no central entity controls the internet.
|
||||
|
||||
## 5 good reasons to buy ThreeFold Tokens
|
||||
|
||||
1. TFTs are exclusively generated when new capacity is added to the TF Grid. There are no centralized issuers. Tokens have not been created out of thin air.
|
||||
2. While the ThreeFold Grid can expand, a maximum of 4 Billion TFTs can ever be in circulation. This limit ensures stability of value and incentivization for all stakeholders.
|
||||
3. TFT lives on the Stellar Blockchain. TFT holders benefit from a big ecosystem of proven wallets and mediums of exchange.
|
||||
4. By employing Stellar technology, TFT transactions and smart contracts are powered by one of the most energy-efficient blockchains available. Furthermore, TFT is the medium of exchange on the greenest internet network in the world.
|
||||
5. The market for farming, cultivating and trading TFT is open to all. Anyone with internet connection, power supply and necessary hardware can become a Farmer or trade ThreeFold tokens (TFT).
|
||||
6. By buying, holding, and utilizing ThreeFold Tokens, you are actively supporting the expansion of the ThreeFold Grid and its use cases — creating a more sustainable, fair, and equally accessible Internet.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
*To learn more about the token, please dive into [our wiki](https://library.threefold.me/info/tfgrid/#/token).*
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
*Important note: TFTs are not an investment instrument. It is the medium of exchange on the ThreeFold Grid, and is a mechanism to enable the Internet we believe is possible.*
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,65 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: join_the_peoples_internet
|
||||
title: How You Can Join the People's Internet
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, farming]
|
||||
category: [farming, cloud, foundation, aci, twin]
|
||||
image: ./join_the_peoples_internet.png
|
||||
image_caption: join the people's internet
|
||||
excerpt: An entirely new Internet economy that is owned by all of us. Add capacity, earn income!
|
||||
authors: [weynand_kuijpers]
|
||||
created: 2021-06-09
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Yes, that's right. With ThreeFold, you *can* become the Internet! Let me quickly explain.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Today's Internet is powered by hyper-scale data centers which are owned by large corporations. With +80% of the global infrastructure and +60% of the global Internet networks owned by a bunch of companies, the Internet became a real business with us humans being the products of that business model.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
ThreeFold creates an entirely new Internet economy that is owned by all of us and makes the traditional cloud model of building data centers obsolete. With ThreeFold, independent people called "Farmers" plug in 3Nodes (hardware) from their homes or offices anywhere around the world. And they earn income for it.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Together, they power a new, data-sovereign, and planet-positive Internet owned and powered by the people. This is a game-changer.
|
||||
|
||||
## So, how do I get a 3Node?
|
||||
|
||||
You can buy one of the ready-made nodes from cooperatives around the world. This is a good and very easy way to support the ThreeFold project and to "BE THE INTERNET."
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Today you can buy a 3Node via our website. We are also working with our farming cooperatives to decentralize the provisioning and distribution of hardware to a glocal approach (a global network of local networks).
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
But what if 3Nodes are not immediately available? For example, last week we had a huge influx of orders for our Titan V2 3Nodes and sold out the entire batch with 3,000 extra orders. We're now talking with many hardware distributors to make sure we can satsify all these orders, but this could take a while.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
So if you are a little bit more adventurous, and want to build your 3Node from the ground up, yourself, here's how to do it:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
To "become the Internet" is fairly simple (but does take some technical knowledge and effort). Here's what you'll need:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
- A computer with an INTEL or AMD brain, some memory, and some storage cabilities.
|
||||
- A smartphone on which you can download and run the "ThreeFold Connect" app. This will provide you with a wallet (to receive your farmed TFT and to pay a very small amount of TFT to get started).
|
||||
- A laptop / desktop (and USB stick) to launch your online 3Bot, configure your farm, download your bootloader and burn the bootloader to a USB stick.
|
||||
- Some technical knowledge, interest and 45 minutes of time.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
If you are still here and reading, we're good to go! I go through the whole process in a 3-minute video which will give you a quick overview of how to set up your farm. (Click through to the video on YouTube and find helpful links in the description.)
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uxIZcsEsOUE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Prefer a different format? We also have forum topics live about [the pre-requirements](https://forum.threefold.io/t/requirements-to-set-up-your-own-3node/831) and [how to set up your 3Node](https://forum.threefold.io/t/how-to-set-up-your-own-3node/833) (the steps I share in the video).
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading this post and we hope to have you as part of our growing, global farming community. If you have any questions, please head to [our forum](https://forum.threefold.io/c/farming/diy-farming/) or feel free to join us on [our ThreeFold Farmer chat](https://t.me/threefoldfarmers) on Telegram.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Photo by [Nicholas Green](https://unsplash.com/@nickxshotz?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) on Unsplash
|
||||
Binary file not shown.
|
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@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: journey_into_threefold
|
||||
title: A Journey Into ThreeFold
|
||||
tags: [update, why, community]
|
||||
category: [farming, cloud, foundation, aci]
|
||||
image: ./journey_into_threefold.png
|
||||
image_caption: A Journey Into ThreeFold
|
||||
excerpt: A conversation with Scott and Sam about Scott's journey into ThreeFold, the tech, the people, and more.
|
||||
authors: [sam_taggart]
|
||||
created: 2021-09-17
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
If you’re part of the ThreeFold Movement, we’re sure you’ve seen Scott in a demo, or in the chats or forums. Scott is new-ish to the team but he’s been active in the community for quite a while.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
In this video, Sam, based in Turkey, and Scott, based in the Pacific Northwest (USA), have a conversation about Scott’s journey into ThreeFold. They speak about how he found out about the project and started contributing (and how you can do the same), the technology, the mission, vision, and values, the people, and what Scott is most looking forward to in the short, medium, and long-term.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eXpXtHRSji0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Eager to contribute? Find us on our forums, chats, or on GitHub!
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
- [ThreeFold Forum](https://forum.threefold.io)
|
||||
- [ThreeFold Main Chat](https://t.me/threefold)
|
||||
- [ThreeFold Farmers Chat](https://t.me/threefoldfarmers)
|
||||
- [ThreeFold Testing Chat](https://t.me/threefoldtesting)
|
||||
- [ThreeFold Foundation GitHub](https://github.com/threefoldfoundation)
|
||||
- [ThreeFold Tech GitHub](https://github.com/threefoldtech)
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: more_inclusive_internet
|
||||
title: We Need a More Inclusive Internet
|
||||
tags: [farming,why]
|
||||
category: [farming,cloud,foundation,aci,twin]
|
||||
image: ./more_inclusive_internet.png
|
||||
image_caption: planet internet
|
||||
excerpt: Today we are working with partners in the clean energy and network / connectivity to build the solutions that are needed to provide fair and uninterrupted internet access with all corners of the world.
|
||||
authors: [sam_taggart]
|
||||
created: 2021-01-03
|
||||
---
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Today, more than 40% of the world is without access to the internet, a tool which brings incredible access to knowledge (education) and important information, communication tools that keep loved ones connected and are crucial for emergencies, and economic opportunities. And over the last year, as the world is spending more time at home, digital economies are booming and education is going remote. With an uncertain future, we need to fix the digital divide or we risk leaving billions of people even further behind.
|
||||
|
||||
## The Data Center Problem: Cost & Proximity
|
||||
|
||||
The centralized data centers that power today's Internet are located "strategically" mainly in North America, Europe, and select parts of Asia. For populations living in these regions, Internet is accessible and generally relatively affordable. But the further you travel from these data centers, the less available and more expensive the internet becomes. Internet access is mostly an issue Sub-saharan Africa, throughout Asia, and some parts of South America.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Of course some data centers can be and are being built in and near developing and remote regions, but for reasons including cost and audience, this hasn't been a huge priority to date. Beyond that, the data center model as a whole simply cannot scale to meet the future demands of the internet nor is it sustainable for our planet, so this is not the right option.
|
||||
|
||||
## The Internet Shutdown Problem: Control & Manipulation
|
||||
|
||||
Lack of internet access isn't always just an availability or affordability problem. Today's internet can be limited or even shut down at any point, by the right people. Take a quick look at [NetBlocks.org](https://netblocks.org/reports), an organization that reports on global internet disruptions or outages. Typically governments are enacting these measures during times of unrest or protest or important political moments. Even in the United States, the Executive Branch of the government has [the power to shut down the internet](https://www.klemchuk.com/ip-law-trends/government-power-to-shut-down-the-internet) in a case of a national emergency.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Cutting the internet or restricting certain services based on region (a common practice as well) is not only not right, it's dangerous. People rely on the internet for information and communication and no government or entity should have the ability to shut the internet down at their discretion.
|
||||
|
||||
## The ThreeFold Solution: Fair & Neutral Internet for All
|
||||
|
||||
In 2016, the United Nations declared internet access to be a human right, yet today if you are reading this post, you are privileged. All humans deserve access to the internet and ThreeFold has the solution.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
With the ThreeFold model, nodes can be set up anywhere in the world where an existing internet connection and electricity are present. By putting physical infrastructure at the edge (close to users), greater levels of access can be reached.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Further, the ThreeFold Grid cannot be shut down or manipulated. It is a neutral internet owned by the people, where autonomous technology heals and runs itself and requires minimal human intervention.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Today we are working with partners in the clean energy and network / connectivity to build the solutions that are needed to provide fair and uninterrupted internet access with all corners of the world.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Of course we will need new safe, secure, and private solutions for people to collaborate online. Many of these are already live and deployable via ThreeFold Now Community Solutions. We are working with partners in the education space as well to build toolsets for students to enrich their lives.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
We need a more inclusive internet, and that is what we are building.
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: new_digital_currency
|
||||
title: The need for a sustainable digital currency
|
||||
tags: [threefold_token]
|
||||
category: [farming,foundation]
|
||||
image: ./new_digital_currency.png
|
||||
image_caption: tokens
|
||||
excerpt: Cryptocurrencies commonly face some major problems, which can be solved.
|
||||
authors: [adnan_fatayerji]
|
||||
created: 2019-03-06
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## The world needs a new stable & green digital currency, which is usable globally
|
||||
|
||||
Digital currencies are on the way to global adoption. Today, there are approximately 130+ billion dollars worth of digital currencies in circulation and approximately 1 billion dollars traded on a daily basis on open market exchanges. Benefits of digital currencies include direct peer-to-peer transactions (requiring no intermediaries such as banks), greater trust (secured by cryptography and mathematics), lower friction charges, faster transaction times, and no single point of failure.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
However, cryptocurrencies commonly face some major problems, such as:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
- **Lack of scalability**: The main blockchains today are based on “proof of work” - generating very large and complex prime numbers called “hashes” to record ledger transactions. These proof of work blockchains cannot scale to meet the increasing blockchain transaction volumes. In fact, Ethereum, one of the most popular and well known blockchains has announced it will change from “proof of work” to “proof of stake.”
|
||||
- **Crazy energy requirements**: Computing complex proof of work hashes requires enormous amounts of processing power. Actually, a large portion of today’s hashrate is produced by very large dedicated billion dollar data centers called miners. It is estimated that the energy consumed by digital currency mining is approximately equivalent to the power consumption of the entire country of Denmark.
|
||||
- **Certain perceived reputational issues**: Numerous commentators - particularly in the early years of bitcoin - speculated that unregulated digital currencies could be used to fund illicit activities.
|
||||
- **A general absence of intrinsic value**: The major digital currencies today are not backed by real assets - therefore their value is more surrounded by hype.
|
||||
- **Limited utility**: Today digital currencies are predominantly held by miners and investors. There is very limited use of digital currencies to buy goods and services.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
These are some of the problems we see with cryptocurrencies. The world needs a new stable and green digital currency, which is usable globally. Enter ThreeFold Token.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
*To learn more about the token, please dive into [our wiki](https://library.threefold.me/info/tfgrid/#/token).*
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,62 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: new_edge_cloud
|
||||
title: Use cases for the ThreeFold Peer-to-Peer Cloud
|
||||
tags: [technology,threefold_cloud]
|
||||
category: [farming,cloud,foundation]
|
||||
image: ./new_edge_cloud.png
|
||||
image_caption: technology
|
||||
excerpt: Containers, IAAS, Archives, Security, and more..
|
||||
authors: [sam_taggart]
|
||||
created: 2018-09-12
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
## Use cases for the ThreeFold Peer-to-Peer Cloud
|
||||
|
||||
### Any Docker Service
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold nodes natively run containers - therefore they can run any Docker service. But it does so in a more efficient way than the current Docker engine - the most used and known container technology platform in the world.
|
||||
|
||||
### IAAS
|
||||
|
||||
The ThreeFold node technology enables hardware capabilities to be used for IAAS services in a very efficient way. Overhead is reduced to a minimum by stripping out unnecessary layers of software that have been implemented over the last decade to patch scaling and performance problems. Our engineers have always looked at the root cause of issues and by innovating at the core algorithm level, solved many issues.
|
||||
Examples are:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
- **Less is more**: Scale down the operating system for a virtualization architecture to a minimum and boot it over the network - no local operating system files installed on local storage.
|
||||
- **Look at root causes, no painkiller approach**: Step away from existing storage solutions that require proprietary acceleration hardware and use standard off the shelf, affordable and efficient components with a 100% software-based storage solution that can withstand hardware failures without requiring human intervention - creating a very efficient, reliable and performing storage solution that can operate standalone.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The platform is secured by using a network boot mechanism that makes it virtually hack resistant as there are no operating system files installed locally. Infrastructure as a service traditionally runs in hyper-scale data centers, remote from the businesses using it. ThreeFold node technology allows you to install, operate and run IAAS services close to your business locations operated by your local IT team. It operates on a peer-to-peer network - only transferring bits of data that need to be transported to avoid network congestion and traffic bottlenecks.
|
||||
|
||||
### Archive
|
||||
|
||||
Data generation is growing exponentially. More data has been generated in the last 2 years than ever before. This creates a big need to archive data. The ThreeFold node technology creates storage and archiving capabilities by using standard hardware and known interfaces (S3, FTP, WebDav, CIFS, and NFS) will be built by developers worldwide and made available. The low-level storage functionality supports version controlling of the archived data, which keeps all relevant changes without any limitation by using a small amount of actual storage capacity.
|
||||
|
||||
### Security
|
||||
|
||||
Data security and reliability are key aspects of any storage system. The ThreeFold node allows all data to be compressed and encrypted if and when needed. The distributed character of the storage system enables site redundant storage algorithms to be deployed while keeping large data volumes from being stored in a single location. This removes the risk of data being stolen (physically) and prevents a site outage to result in data outage. The distributed character of the system is in line with the increasing spread of actual data generation. ThreeFold has sensory equipment everywhere these days, and the overhead of storing all that information in a few central places is enormous. Data collection and storage happens once - reading data to use it for a particular workload happens many times.
|
||||
|
||||
### Data Mining
|
||||
|
||||
On traditional server architectures, every application has to set up its servers that run their code in isolated silos, making sharing of data hard. The distributed character of the ThreeFold node technology presents compute and storage capacity everywhere. This enables large data mining workloads to happen close to the source of the data. By storing data in a distributed manner, mining can be distributed as well. Distributed compute capacity next to storage capabilities creates the possibility to create data mining operations on local storage (which makes it very fast and efficient) by coding data mining algorithms in programming languages (such as Python, Lua, Javascript, and Golang). Data mining follows distributed data storage.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Never run into scalability problems again with the ThreeFold node. Data storage can expand horizontally using thousands of distributed nodes to create large storage volumes.
|
||||
|
||||
### Smart Contracts
|
||||
|
||||
Smart contracts are applications that run on a decentralized platform, exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud, or third-party interference. These applications run on a blockchain, a powerful shared global infrastructure that can move value around and represent the ownership of that value. Smart contracts enable developers to create markets, store registries of debts (or promises), move funds following past instructions (like a will or a futures contract), and many other things without a middleman or counterparty risk. ThreeFold nodes run based on smart-contracts.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
### Self-Learning and AI
|
||||
|
||||
Blockchains can be seen as databases. By current database standards, traditional blockchains like Bitcoin are terrible: low throughout, low capacity, high latency, poor query support, and so on. But even with these terrible characteristics, blockchains introduced three new and important characteristics:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
- **Decentralized data and shared data control** leads to more data and better qualitative data which results in better models. Shortening the machine learning time also enables AI to progress at a faster pace.
|
||||
- **Immutable audit trails** improve the trustworthiness of the data, and improves the models' provenance on training and testing results.
|
||||
- **Native assets** and assets exchanges make training and testing models intellectual property (IP) assets easier - enhancing decentralized data and model exchanges.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Blockchain technology allows more and better quality data to be presented to machine learning algorithms. It has been proven (Microsoft researchers - Banko and Brill) that more data — not just a bit more data but way more data — while using the same algorithms results in a lot better machine learning. Meaning that the future of machine learning is not in trying to create more sophisticated algorithms (which will happen). So by moving AI learning into a blockchain environment we speed up machine learning and in the end create AI.
|
||||
Binary file not shown.
|
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@@ -1,75 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: new_neutral_internet
|
||||
title: The need for ThreeFold's neutral internet
|
||||
tags: [technology,farming,threefold_token,why]
|
||||
category: [farming,cloud,foundation]
|
||||
image: ./new_neutral_internet.png
|
||||
image_caption: planet internet
|
||||
excerpt: The Internet is no longer the neutral place it used to be. +80% of the Internet capacity is delivered by a handful of companies.
|
||||
authors: [kristof_de_spiegeleer]
|
||||
created: 2017-06-01
|
||||
---
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
**The Internet is growing like crazy and is now a trillion dollar problem. Together we can build a new neutral Internet.**
|
||||
|
||||
## An introduction to the problems
|
||||
|
||||
- The Internet is no longer the neutral place it used to be. +80% of the Internet capacity is delivered by a handful of companies. This results in a loss of neutrality and openness and breeds inequalities.
|
||||
- To support the continuous growth of the Internet and connect billions to new Internet Of Things devices, 400 million new servers are needed by 2020. The world therefore needs another 4,000 large-scale data centers that each consume 200 MWe of electricity: [see source](http://bit.ly/1UPUZYG).
|
||||
- Today, about 4 billion people have no access to the Internet due to the high costs of connectivity and capacity. We believe these people have the fundamental right to have low-cost access to digital resources such as online identity solutions, education, health information and more. For this to happen, solutions that can lower the cost by a factor of 10 are required.
|
||||
- Bandwidth does not follow Moore’s law. The growth of bandwidth required is much higher than the speed at which new capacity can be delivered. This is even more important in emerging markets.
|
||||
- Current blockchain technology is not scalable and not sustainable. Example: the Bitcoin blockchain alone uses more energy today than Croatia.
|
||||
|
||||
## Current Internet and Cloud capacity
|
||||
|
||||
Today, the cloud computing industry represents a 100 billion dollar industry - mostly owned by about 20 global cooperations. Experts such as Bell Labs and Cisco believe the capacity requirements in the next decade will dramatically exceed existing infrastructure - requiring many more data centers and billions, if not trillions in investments.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The spectacular growth and advancements in cloud computing that occurred over the last decade resulted in large part from “hyper-scale” efficiencies - i.e. centralizing Internet infrastructure in very large billion dollar data centers. However, demand for Internet capacity already surpassed the available infrastructure with emerging technologies such as Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology. The existing hyperscale cloud architecture cannot cope with this growing demand as the requirements for land, power and funding are becoming outrageous.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The challenges facing the Internet includes the following:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
- **Trillions of Investment Required**. In the next decade, the global Internet infrastructure requires another 4,000 data centers (250M - 1B dollar investment each) to meet demand which would cost trillions - this money could be better used in education, healthcare, or sustainable innovations.
|
||||
- **Impossible to scale the networks connecting users to the hyperscale data centers**. Since hyperscale data centers are built in large "central" locations, the network leading to these data centers is congested. Even more, remote regions that are less connected to the Internet cannot benefit from these data centers’ IT services.
|
||||
- **Non-local data and capacity**. Governments around the world are becoming more and more concerned about data leaving their borders. To tackle this centralization issue, they would need local IT infrastructure. Also, IoT workloads need local capacity to deliver constant real-time computing and storage requirements - for certain applications and workloads (e.g. driverless cars), latency is not an option. Hyperscale data centers can simply not match these requirements.
|
||||
- **Not secure / at risk of choke point failures**. There are plenty of recent well-publicized problems around security, outages and loss of data. The reason for this is that centralized hyperscale architectures are inherently insecure - and failures at a single hyperscale location can cause widespread contagion and outages.
|
||||
|
||||
## The ThreeFold Solution
|
||||
|
||||
Our solution to these trillion dollar problems is to migrate Internet capacity to the Edge (closer to user location) - i.e. a “hyper-distributed” network architecture, located close to users (in cities, schools, offices, homes and even vehicles).
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Edge networks will not necessarily replace the existing hyperscale capacity powering today’s cloud - rather, they will scale to meet the increased capacity demands going forward. However, if the current hyperscale capacity can be decentralized to improve energy consumption and reduce costs, this would be a huge global success.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
By 2025, 60% of new Internet infrastructure will be decentralized and located at the edge of operator networks by using alternative locations which have stable (renewable) power and reliable connectivity.
|
||||
|
||||
## ThreeFold's technology main benefits:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Security**: The ThreeFold Grid is distributed and benefits from our ItsYou.Online identity management platform - making it much more secure.
|
||||
- **Decentralized**: The solution enables to bring capacity closer to where users are located, enabling a Cloud at the Edge.
|
||||
- **Sustainability**: The technology removes the need to build huge power hungry datacenters and by decentralizing the architecture enables up-to 1000% energy savings.
|
||||
- **Making IT a true utility**: We always approached IT as Energy. Today we provide 3x more uptime and between 3-10x more cost effectiveness.
|
||||
- **Neutrality**: The solution enables 100% neutral & private Internet IT capacity. Our blockchain technology provides security, neutrality & scale.
|
||||
|
||||
## The ThreeFold Zero-Node
|
||||
|
||||
The Zero-Node provides compute, network and storage capacity to the internet and ThreeFold's blockchain. This capacity can be used for any possible workload. Here are some characteristics of ThreeFold's Zero node:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
- **Modularity**: Scaling from 8 vCPUs and 3.5 TB of storage (smallest) to clusters with 8000 vCPUs and 2 PB of storage (large), there is a range of possibilities at hand.
|
||||
- **Sustainability**: Storing the hardware uses about 10x less energy, and about 2-3x for other workloads.
|
||||
- **Decentralized**: The Zero Operating System ("Zero OS") is ideally suited for Edge networking - where automation, self-healing and hyper-distribution are must-haves.
|
||||
- The Zero-Nodes are deployed as close as possible to the consumers of Internet IT capacity (IoT, residential, business, government, education, …).
|
||||
- This results in massive bandwidth savings, we estimate to be able to keep 99% of the required bandwidth locally which has a huge impact on cost.
|
||||
- This is the only viable solution to be able to provide internet to the 3.2 billion people waiting.
|
||||
- **Self healing**: The architecture is designed to ensure that workloads and data can be accessed at all times.
|
||||
- **Neutral & private**: A lot of work has done using blockchain (technology which powers crypto currency) to guarantee privacy and net neutrality.
|
||||
- Designed around simplicity to be used by everyone.
|
||||
- The technology provides anyone with the autonomy to deliver complex IT applications without the need for complex integration services.
|
||||
- **Empowers equality**: Our technology should be usable by the “other billions” that remain unconnected. Due to the low cost-points, low energy requirements and reduced need of backbone network capacity.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: p2p_web3
|
||||
title: Peer-to-Peer Overcomes Web3 Challenges
|
||||
tags: [peer_to_peer,why,farming,threefold_grid]
|
||||
category: [foundation]
|
||||
image: ./p2p_web3.png
|
||||
image_caption: P2P Web3
|
||||
excerpt: The promise of Web3 is tremendous, but there are clear limitations to overcome. How? Peer-to-peer systems and blockchains, side by side. The best of both worlds.
|
||||
authors: [sam_taggart]
|
||||
created: 2022-03-09
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
First coined in 2014, Web3 is now one of the hottest and overused buzzwords in the digital space – the idea of a new iteration of the web, a decentralized environment based on blockchain technology that incorporates token-based economics. The promise of Web3 – decentralization of control and authority from big tech, data security, scalability, and privacy for users – is tremendous. But what is a promise without delivery? Is it possible that we will see major adoption soon?
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Similar to the [enterprise blockchain hype](https://thenewstack.io/as-blockchain-hype-fades-developers-give-ethereum-a-serious-look/) that happened a few years ago, Web3 seems to be repeating the same story, with lots of chatter but lagging adoption. Millions have rushed to trade crypto and NFTs attached to Web3 – with a lot of this activity based on speculation and hype – but that doesn’t mean they will replace legacy platforms anytime soon. New approaches such as DeFi (decentralized finance) don’t have the same problem of the legacy firms, but they face the challenge of scaling and mass adoption. However, many so-called ‘Web3’ solutions are not as decentralized as they seem, and still have to show they are scalable, secure and accessible enough for the mass market. This all may change, but there are clear limitations that will need to be overcome.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Whether Web3 is a marketing slogan or a true technological trend, there is a lot of money and technology behind it. Financial institutions are embracing blockchain technology and we are seeing a rising adoption of digital assets across industries. While the idea of utilizing digital currencies to exchange different forms of value in an increasingly digital world certainly makes sense, it’s a bigger leap to say that blockchain alone can support a broad set of use cases, including replacing the current Internet infrastructure.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The Internet’s client-server infrastructure replicates data and workloads across many computers, and uses tons of computing resources and energy while limiting the scalability of our applications. However, the clear inefficiencies and gaps in security in today’s centralized infrastructures are being challenged by simpler means of building, storing and exchanging data.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Blockchain is a clear evolution to the centralized client-server model, but there are severe challenges sourced from the [blockchain trilemma](https://medium.com/certik/the-blockchain-trilemma-decentralized-scalable-and-secure-e9d8c41a87b3) between decentralization, scalability and security. Peer-to-peer systems transcend those challenges as they don’t require any valid2ation or verification from a third party, and enable end-to-end connections that can scale limitlessly without the potential of being altered or corrupted by intermediaries. In peer-to-peer systems, all participants are equally privileged, presenting a fairer model. Peer-to-peer represents an incredibly simple and efficient paradigm for organizing our digital world, and has already proven to be the most efficient alternative to centralized information systems.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Simply put, there is no reason to replicate full sets of data and workloads across many computers, and use tons of computing resources and energy while limiting the scalability of our applications. While there is an increasing reliance on blockchain principles to organize our Internet systems, blockchain also makes things redundant, slow, complex and energy intensive. To be clear, blockchain isn’t the problem, as it is a great technology to store and exchange value in a decentralized way, but it is only one piece of the puzzle.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
By inter-connecting the computing processing power and storage capacity of billions of computers worldwide in a peer-to-peer way, data transfers could happen end-to-end between people and machines without the need to be verified. Peer-to-peer is also the only way to achieve a truly self-sovereign Internet – creating a ‘trustful’ environment that allows users and developers to have real data ownership.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Peer-to-peer systems aren’t meant to replace blockchains – they represent a way to decentralize models that blockchain cannot, such as Internet infrastructures. Peer-to-peer systems and blockchains, side by side. The best of both worlds. Peer-to-peer as the most efficient and decentralized alternative for us to exchange data and Internet resources. And blockchain for establishing trust through an irrefutable record of transactions.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
With the rise of emerging technologies, a new technological foundation is needed to protect our sovereignty and freedom. The rise of blockchains, while well intended, ultimately has made the technological space more complex than ever before, and still benefits a plutocratic few (relative to its promise). More than just technology, peer-to-peer opens a world of new possibilities for humanity to co-initiate new paradigms and experiences.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
By applying blockchain and peer-to-peer technology to the cloud, ThreeFold solves the security and autonomy issues of the Internet and realizes the initial promise of the Internet as an open-source, peer-to-peer, planetary mesh network of nodes owned by the people.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Support the realization of a peer-to-peer Internet owned by the people today:
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
- [Get TFT](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tokens/threefold__how_to_buy), the currency of the peer-to-peer Internet.
|
||||
- [Connect a computer](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__farming_intro) to the peer-to-peer Internet and earn monthly rewards.
|
||||
- [Build applications](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#//manual__manual3_home_new) on the peer-to-peer Internet.
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,65 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: paradise_hills
|
||||
title: ThreeFold in Paradise
|
||||
tags: [partner, threefold_grid, why]
|
||||
category: [foundation]
|
||||
image: ./paradise_hills.png
|
||||
image_caption: ThreeFold in Paradise
|
||||
excerpt: An inside look at how the Paradise Hills partnership came to be and how the model can scale around the world.
|
||||
authors: [sam_taggart]
|
||||
created: 2022-04-07
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
It’s January 2022. ThreeFold co-founder Adnan Fatayerji sits in the office of Shaher Mousli, CEO of Paradise Hills Development, along with Suhaib Sheikh, COO of the project. Shaher and Adnan are long-time friends and in fact Shaher gave Adnan his first internship in Dubai about two decades ago, while Adnan was in his final year at university.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Shaher is well-known in the Dubai real-estate market, for his open-heartedness and transparency, and has a history of always looking for ways to stand out and differentiate himself and his projects. Paradise Hills in itself came from the idea of creating a “paradise” themed model for residents that could even serve as a tropical resting place for birds in Dubai.
|
||||
|
||||
## The “aha” moment
|
||||
|
||||
For the past twenty years, Adnan and Shaher have maintained a strong relationship, and on this day, they are gathering to find a way to work together – to bring things full circle. They discuss how the real estate market is making a strong comeback, and various types of value propositions for future Paradise Hills residents, when the incredible “aha” moment drops. Instead of a standard one-time gift or fee write-off, why don't we add a 3Node to each residence? A gift that keeps on giving! The room is filled with excitement. They realize that a new dawn in the property and homeownership market is born, combining the unified empowerment of digital and physical assets.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Together, ThreeFold and Paradise Hills will collaborate on a [historic partnership](https://threefold.io/news/post/paradise_hills/) to create the world’s first neighborhood cloud network, living on top of the ThreeFold Grid. Dedicated servers called 3Nodes will be installed into 170 homes, providing the edge computing and Internet storage needed to run decentralized applications and Internet services. This will give residents, businesses, developers, and the government a secure and highly-available sovereign cloud infrastructure to store and process their data locally. And homeowners will be rewarded in the form of ThreeFold Tokens (TFT) simply by having these 3Nodes connected.
|
||||
|
||||
## No time to waste
|
||||
|
||||
Quickly the team puts the idea to paper, and by February the deal is done. In March, the collaboration is announced and makes the rounds in publications like [Yahoo! Finance](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/paradise-hills-property-development-threefold-090000146.html) and on plenty of regional properties. Adnan even begins training the Paradise Hills sales team on how to present the opportunity to potential residents. The speed of the collaboration is proof of a collective commitment to take this leap of faith, and a high-level of trust in each other and the possibilities. Another big reason for confidence: once the modeling was done, it was clear that this could be a massive financial opportunity for residents, one which could even pay off the cost of the house in a relatively short number of years.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The ThreeFold [3Node](https://threefold.io/farm) will be a standard “appliance” in each Paradise Hills residence, much like a refrigerator or an oven. But this appliance is anything but “standard” – it provides and connects decentralized Internet capacity owned by the Paradise Hills community, and comes with an onboarding guide to welcome each resident into the much larger ThreeFold community.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Further, Paradise Hills is adamant about building tools on top of the ThreeFold Grid – digital storefronts for local businesses, peer-to-peer marketplaces and forums or chats for the residents, and whatever else is deemed to be needed. The collaboration with ThreeFold essentially turns Paradise Hills into a sovereign “smart” community, where even the footage from the security cameras on premise can be stored locally and privately.
|
||||
|
||||
## The community comes together
|
||||
|
||||
Flash forward to a few weeks ago, the early Paradise Hills community gathers together for a gala. ThreeFold co-founder and tech guru Weynand Kuijpers has the chance to speak in front of the group. He speaks about the early days of the Internet, how it was hijacked by Big Tech turning people into products, and how now there is a new model for the Internet by people, for people. “You are some of the first to do this,” he says to the crowd.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Afterwards, residents come up and express their excitement, even if they don’t quite understand all the details. One woman in particular asks, “Can you please explain to me how having this device in my home won’t impact my privacy or security?” Adnan goes on to describe how the 3Node is actually there to preserve privacy and security. “A 3Node is just like a solar panel, only instead of electricity, it provides Internet capacity for local usage. In fact, any data that’s in your home is just a fragment of a piece of a puzzle, so it’s inaccessible to you or anyone else for that matter.” Overall, there is a clear feeling that contributing to this new Internet Grid will bring a unifying force to the community, and a deeper sense of meaning for what it means to be a resident of Paradise Hills.
|
||||
|
||||
## Bringing Paradise to the world
|
||||
|
||||
Paradise Hills is a first of its kind partnership, but it is only the first. We at ThreeFold see incredible opportunities to scale this model across the world, and not only in real estate developments. Imagine if we apply this to lower-income and affordable housing communities, or colleges and universities. Hardware gifted to residents that connect together to form a localized part of a truly sovereign Internet Grid, on top of which useful community tools can be built – all while generating passive token rewards for the residents. A ground-up model. A global concept, applied locally.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
If the Paradise Hills story inspires you, and you have an idea for how to bring this model elsewhere, we invite you to take action. Head to the ThreeFold Forum, create a topic under the [Paradise Hills Model](https://forum.threefold.io/t/about-the-paradise-hills-model-category/2632) category, and let’s spread this to the world.
|
||||
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@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: project_comparison_1_dfinity
|
||||
title: "A Journey through the Decentralization and Blockchain Space – Part One: Dfinity"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, blockchain, technology]
|
||||
category: [foundation]
|
||||
image: ./project_comparison_1_dfinity.png
|
||||
image_caption: The Dfinity Foundation & how it compares to ThreeFold
|
||||
excerpt: This post is the first one in a series to explore fellow projects and their solutions with regards to what they share with ThreeFold but also where we differ. Follow me on my journey through the space. First up – Dfinity!
|
||||
authors: [hannah_cordes]
|
||||
created: 2021-10-01
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Whether you’re new to ThreeFold or have been around for a while, the decentralization and blockchain space can often be quite elusive and opaque with regards to what certain projects have to offer. Very clear, however, is the current market cap for aggregated decentralized compute and storage projects which exceeds 50 billion USD. Therefore, we decided to shed some light on the space and to show you how our solutions compare to those of other projects.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
This post is the first one in a series to explore fellow projects and their solutions with regards to what they share with ThreeFold but also where we differ. Follow me on my journey through the decentralization and blockchain space to get a better understanding of where we are within the space. First up: [Dfinity](https://forum.threefold.io/t/a-journey-through-the-decentralization-and-blockchain-space-part-one-dfinity/1316)!
|
||||
|
||||
## The DFINITY Foundation & how it compares to ThreeFold
|
||||
|
||||
The [DFINITY Foundation](https://dfinity.org/foundation) is a not-for-profit organization, founded in October 2016 by Dominic Williams and headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. With a team of more than 200 people, Dfinity is developing the technology for the Internet Computer blockchain. It seeks to free the Internet from big tech and monopolization and return to the Internet’s open roots by offering a public blockchain on which systems and dApps can be rebuilt in a secure and scalable way.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
As the term “rebuild” already indicates, Dfinity’s own SDK has to be used to build on their platform, whereas ThreeFold is highly compatible with industry standards tools and protocols (e.g. Linux-based workloads, S3, Docker containers, Kubernetes). This allows for existing applications to be easily migrated onto the [ThreeFold Grid](https://threefold.io/grid), while also offering unparalleled levels of [security](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/threefold__usp_secure?id=network-security), privacy and decentralization. Moreover, Dfinity’s architecture is blockchain-based and offers a platform for dApps, while ThreeFold is based on its own operating system, [Zero-OS](https://threefold.io/tech/zero-os), and is a platform for P2P network, storage and compute. The ThreeFold Grid uses a blockchain internally only where it is truly needed while also offering the missing capacity layer which enables every blockchain to become [truly decentralized](https://threefold.io/blog/post/decentralize_blockchain/).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Another difference is that Dfinity is more about creating an ecosystem of independent data centers, whereas ThreeFold turns the [data center model](https://threefold.io/blog/post/threefold_cloud_vs_centralized_providers_like_aws_azure/) upside down by enabling anyone to become a [node](https://shop.threefold.tech/index.php?route=common/home) of the system. Even non-technical people can [join the network](https://threefold.io/farm) with plug-and-play offerings through ThreeFold’s certified hardware partners. The ThreeFold Grid is therefore [more inclusive](https://www.threefold.io/blog/post/tf_grid_peoples_internet/) and allows individuals to participate as well, which enables ThreeFold to scale an unlimited number of nodes, whereas Dfinity currently uses a limited set of existing data centers. The question remains of whether they will incentivise an easier way into their system. ThreeFold’s model is not only infinitely scalable but also can act as the ideal substrate for edge computing which is difficult for Dfinity to achieve with its more centralized structure. Also, Threefold’s self-driving and self-healing [technology](https://threefold.io/tech) is unique in the space and removes the pain of having to monitor and maintain the nodes.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Furthermore, ThreeFold’s Zero-OS was created from scratch and its low-level design allows it to achieve unparalleled levels of [security](https://forum.threefold.io/t/security-privacy-on-the-threefold-grid-and-second-best-alternatives-out-there-today/1290) and decentralization. With VMs, Kubernetes, a next-generation container environment, and the [Quantum Safe File System](https://threefold.io/tech/zdbfs), ThreeFold’s offering is much more comprehensive than Dfinity’s canister offering. A potential collaboration, however, could be beneficial for Dfinity. By hosting their offerings on the ThreeFold Grid, Dfinity could benefit from ThreeFold’s fully decentralized and autonomous infrastructure.
|
||||
|
||||
## Conclusion
|
||||
|
||||
Both, Dfinity and ThreeFold, share the same ambition to [revolutionize the Internet](https://tgdaily.com/web/6-dfinity-threefold-are-leading-an-internet-decentralization-revolution/). While both provide a platform for dApps to be built upon, ThreeFold has a much more comprehensive and compatible stack. Therefore, Dfinity could benefit from moving to the ThreeFold Grid as an underlying [infrastructure](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/06/20/largest-distributed-peer-to-peer-grid-on-the-planet-laying-foundation-for-a-decentralized-internet/), rather than depending on their more centralized data center structure. In addition to that, their data center operators could also choose to [become farmers](https://threefold.io/farm) on the ThreeFold Grid, while continuing to host Dfinity – without having to worry about system administration and maintenance as ThreeFold’s technology is fully self-healing. In that way they could finally run on a fully decentralized, [energy-efficient](https://new.threefold.io/blog/post/for_our_planet/), and self-healing infrastructure – and as Dfinity [stated](https://dfinity.org/foundation), they’re “committed to connecting those who believe the same”, so we hope to find the spirit of decentralization and collaboration in our future engagements.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Thanks for joining me on this journey throughout the decentralization and blockchain space. Stay tuned for the next stop: [Akash](https://threefold.io/blog/post/project_comparison_2_akash/)!
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,57 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: project_comparison_2_akash
|
||||
title: "A Journey through the Decentralization and Blockchain Space – Part Two: Akash"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, blockchain, technology, threefold_cloud, threefold_token]
|
||||
category: [foundation]
|
||||
image: ./project_comparison_2_akash.png
|
||||
image_caption: Akash & how it compares to ThreeFold
|
||||
excerpt: This post is the second one in a series to explore fellow projects and their solutions with regards to what they share with ThreeFold but also where we differ. Follow me on my journey through the space. This time, we're looking into Akash!
|
||||
authors: [hannah_cordes]
|
||||
created: 2021-10-05
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
As announced in [the first episode of this series](https://threefold.io/blog/post/project_comparison_1_dfinity/), I’d like to shed some light on the complex decentralization and blockchain space and look into what fellow projects have to offer. There are various projects decentralizing parts of the internet. So in this second blog post, we’ll be exploring Akash and their solutions to find out what we have in common and where we differ. Follow me on the second step of my journey to better understand the space we operate in and how ThreeFold stands out.
|
||||
|
||||
## Akash & how the project compares to ThreeFold
|
||||
|
||||
Founded in 2015, [Akash](https://akash.network) is an open-source and blockchain-based cloud computing platform. They [strive](https://akash.network/about#vision) for an open, permissionless, and sovereign cloud that allows anyone to reserve computing resources without any intermediaries. Their cloud platform provides a simple way for deploying and scaling cloud applications.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The Akash Network is a decentralized, on-chain marketplace for leasing cloud computing resources, while the Akash Container Platform is an off-chain platform for cloud management services (deployment, hosting, and management of workloads) on Kubernetes, the industry standard for container orchestration. We also integrated Kubernetes into our [P2P Cloud](https://threefold.io/info/cloud#/cloud__cloud_intro) solution, but we didn’t stop there. On ThreeFold’s cloud solution, developers additionally have the option to deploy virtual machines or to discover the future of cloud computing with [ZFlist](https://threefold.io/tech/zflist) – a game-changing Docker-compatible solution that is distributed across many mini VMs, positioning itself as the ideal infrastructure for edge workloads. And all data produced by these workloads can be stored in our [Quantum Safe File System](https://threefold.io/tech/zdbfs) solution that is highly compatible with most storage tools (e.g. S3) and protocols (e.g. IPFS).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
With Akash, developers would get access to what is probably the best decentralized computing cloud on the market, whereas ThreeFold offers a full stack cloud infrastructure that unites compute, storage, and network. Having integrated all leading industry-standard tools, ThreeFold’s [cloud solution](https://cloud.threefold.io/) allows for a seamless migration of any digital workload – even from centralized cloud providers like [AWS or Microsoft Azure](https://threefold.io/blog/post/threefold_cloud_vs_centralized_providers_like_aws_azure/). This empowers developers from all over the world to deploy their applications and workloads on a fully decentralized infrastructure, without having to learn new tools. Developers using Akash, however, may still need to rely on other decentralized projects to decentralize the storage and network components of their solutions.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Akash sees their [USP](https://docs.akash.network) in hosting containers that allow any type of cloud-native application to be hosted without vendor lock-in or having to learn new protocols, a vision shared and extended by ThreeFold as the project is already compatible with most of the industry standards. With the integration of [Terraform](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-grid-3-0-supports-terraform/1184) into the upcoming third release of the [ThreeFold Grid](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/06/20/largest-distributed-peer-to-peer-grid-on-the-planet-laying-foundation-for-a-decentralized-internet/), developers will be capable of hosting any existing or future Linux workload seamlessly.
|
||||
|
||||
## Network and development possibilities
|
||||
|
||||
Akash is one of the most robust decentralized compute solutions out there and is one of the key players in driving the DeCloud movement. On its platform, computing resources can be leased on the Akash Marketplace, driven by its blockchain based on the [Cosmos SDK](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk). It’s already being used by a range of blockchains and applications. On their marketplace, users can determine the terms and price for their deployments and have cloud providers bid for the opportunity in a reversed auction. Nevertheless, the project still relies on centralized data centers as they seek to prevent unutilized capacity [from centralized cloud computing services](https://blog.orchid.com/akash-networks-greg-osuri-on-decentralizing-cloud-computing/) to go to waste, leveraging about 85% of this underutilized cloud capacity from data centers. So, while Akash is preventing capacity from being wasted, they also highly depend on centralized capacity – and so do the workloads using their platform.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
With ThreeFold, developers are enabled to tailor the terms for storing their workloads to fit their needs, benefiting from full decentralization and edge possibilities. Moreover, developers get access to the most distributed peer-to-peer infrastructure in the world – the ThreeFold, currently present in [more than 50 countries](https://explorer.grid.tf). Another unique attribute of the ThreeFold Grid is that the capacity within the network is provided by many people and organizations, forming an infrastructure that can be described as the “[People’s Internet](https://threefold.io/blog/post/tf_grid_peoples_internet/).” It is the first full-stack blockchain-enabled cloud to be made open source, allowing anyone to connect cloud capacity to the network by downloading [Zero-OS](https://threefold.io/tech/zero-os), our stateless and lightweight operating system powering the [ThreeFold Grid](https://threefold.io/grid). Once booted, the servers run and can’t be accessed physically. As they’re self-healing, they don’t require any maintenance. All in all, this model flips traditional IT upside down, allowing anyone to [join](https://threefold.io/blog/post/join_the_peoples_internet/) the ThreeFold ecosystem.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Both projects also reward their communities for providing capacity. Akash planned to launch a limited edition for an own node device, called Supermini, with plug-and-play functionalities similar to our [3Node](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/technology?id=_3nodes). *However, Akash [just announced](https://akash.network/blog/supermini-update) that they’ll be postponing the launch of their Supermini indefinitely, meaning they won't be offering anything comparable to our 3Node anytime soon.* Our [3Node](https://threefold.io/farm) is a general purpose computer that acts as a low-level provider for IT capacity. It is booted with our unique operating system Zero-OS and enables even people without technical skills to participate. We’re collaborating with certified hardware partners and plan to extend our reach in the near future to allow even more people to [join](https://threefold.io/blog/post/join_the_peoples_internet/) the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
|
||||
## Tokenomics and incentive models
|
||||
|
||||
Both, Akash Token (AKT) and [ThreeFold Token](https://threefold.io/tft) (TFT), are utility tokens fuelling an open-source cloud. While the Akash Tokens (AKT) represent a unit of compute on the Akash Network, ThreeFold Tokens (TFT) represent a unit of compute, storage or network on the ThreeFold Grid. Akash’s payment model allows users to pay for what they need, when they need it, using a reverse auction. In order to create a deployment, users have to provide a deposit first. As payments are effected passively, it is crucial for users to keep their deposits funded to maintain the lease of their capacity reservations. With our [ThreeFold Blockchain](https://threefold.io/tech/tf-chain), which will be released on Testnet 3.0 soon, a [new billing model](https://forum.threefold.io/t/introducing-tf-chain-an-updated-billing-model/1277) is being introduced. This model allows users to authorize [smart contracts](https://threefold.io/tech/smart-contract) to automatically deduct their wallets (similarly to a direct debit transaction), depending on how much capacity they use. Additionally, we’re implementing a new discount model, which will provide users with discounted capacity pricings according to the amount of ThreeFold Tokens stored in a user’s wallet.
|
||||
|
||||
## Conclusion
|
||||
|
||||
All in all, Akash does a great job with regards to decentralizing cloud capacity. However, it doesn’t challenge the status-quo in terms of [data privacy](https://forum.threefold.io/t/security-privacy-on-the-threefold-grid-and-second-best-alternatives-out-there-today/1290). At ThreeFold, we’re determined to empower users, to give them back control and ownership of their data in an [entirely secure](https://forum.threefold.io/t/critical-security-updates-for-apple-and-google-underline-need-for-secure-it-ecosystem/1271), peer-to-peer IT ecosystem. While Akash and ThreeFold seem like competitors on a cloud level, we see ourselves more as a potential [decentralized substrate](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-is-the-substrate-for-decloud/1295) for Akash to scale to the edges of our world. Akash developers would surely benefit from the lightweight and stateless features of our Zero-OS which could provide them with a more efficient and private infrastructure to test, build, and collaborate on workloads.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Akash and ThreeFold share the same goal – to bring secure, performant, and data-sovereign cloud solutions for humanity to thrive. As Sam [put in a nutshell](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-is-the-substrate-for-decloud/1295): ThreeFold is the ideal substrate for projects like Akash to run on, instead of depending on traditional cloud providers – as we provide the low-level primitives for a decentralized world. So, we believe [Akash and ThreeFold](https://forum.threefold.io/t/how-is-threefold-different-from-akash-and-holochain/804/2) are complementary in many ways and could join forces to further push the boundaries of [cloud decentralization](https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/ambitious-startup-to-disrupt-the-internet-and-cloud/b38rwj4) together.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
As we truly believe in collaboration, we invite all other projects in the space to join us in our quest to decentralize the entire Internet and Cloud stack to restore the neutrality we once took for granted. Thanks for taking this journey with me and don’t forget to stay tuned for the next stop: [Filecoin](https://threefold.io/blog/post/project_comparison_3_filecoin/)!
|
||||
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: project_comparison_3_filecoin
|
||||
title: "A Journey through the Decentralization and Blockchain Space – Part Three: Filecoin"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, blockchain, technology]
|
||||
category: [foundation]
|
||||
image: ./project_comparison_3_filecoin.png
|
||||
image_caption: Filecoin & how it compares to ThreeFold
|
||||
excerpt: This post is the third one in a series to look into fellow projects and their solutions to better understand the space we operate in and how ThreeFold stands out. This time, we're taking a closer look at Filecoin!
|
||||
authors: [hannah_cordes]
|
||||
created: 2021-10-08
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Welcome to the third stop on our journey that aims to better understand the space we operate in and how ThreeFold stands out. After exploring [Dfinity](https://threefold.io/blog/post/project_comparison_1_dfinity/) and [Akash](https://threefold.io/blog/post/project_comparison_2_akash/), I will now take a closer look at Filecoin to discover the similarities as well as differences of their project and ThreeFold. Let’s dive right in!
|
||||
|
||||
## Filecoin & how the project compares to ThreeFold
|
||||
|
||||
[Filecoin](https://filecoin.io) is a global decentralized storage network and marketplace, founded in 2014 and based on the peer-to-peer protocol [IPFS](https://ipfs.io/). The open-source project is one of the most popular providers of decentralized storage, with people storing files reliably on their mainnet. Like IPFS, Filecoin was founded by [Protocol Labs](https://protocol.ai).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
[IPFS and Filecoin](https://docs.ipfs.io/concepts/faq/#ipfs-and-filecoin) are two separate but complementary open-source protocols. IPFS enables users to store, request, and transfer their data on Filecoin in a reliable way and directly from the IPFS network. As we deeply care about data security and privacy, I’d like to point out that IPFS [does not provide a privacy layer](https://docs.ipfs.io/concepts/privacy-and-encryption/#what-s-public-on-ipfs) and that, subsequently, “all traffic on IPFS is public” – meaning there is no guarantee that your data would be stored privately and confidentially. At ThreeFold, we’re determined to provide a holistically [secure IT ecosystem](https://forum.threefold.io/t/critical-security-updates-for-apple-and-google-underline-need-for-secure-it-ecosystem/1271) with various secure and private [solutions](https://forum.threefold.io/t/security-privacy-on-the-threefold-grid-and-second-best-alternatives-out-there-today/1290), such as our Quantum Safe File System ([QSFS](https://threefold.io/tech/zdbfs)) and [Planetary Network](https://threefold.io/tech/planetary-network), to empower users by giving them control and ownership of their data.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Filecoin provides a persistent data storage system and has built an incentive structure on top of the IPFS protocol to reward the provisioning of storage for other people’s data. The project offers a peer-to-peer [cloud storage](https://filecoin.io/store/#intro) network and marketplace, offering an open market and reducing entry barriers to becoming a storage provider.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
We also offer a peer-to-peer network and cloud solution. Our ThreeFold Grid is the [most advanced](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/06/20/largest-distributed-peer-to-peer-grid-on-the-planet-laying-foundation-for-a-decentralized-internet/) distributed peer-to-peer network there is, currently present in [more than 50 countries](https://explorer.grid.tf). While Filecoin also has its own underlying blockchain, we’re the first full-stack blockchain-enabled cloud to be made open source. Moreover, we offer an energy-efficient [full stack cloud infrastructure](https://cloud.threefold.io) that unites compute, storage, and network, and integrates all leading industry-standard tools – allowing for a seamless migration of any digital workload, even from [traditional cloud providers](https://threefold.io/blog/post/threefold_cloud_vs_centralized_providers_like_aws_azure/) like Microsoft Azure or AWS.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
With our cloud solution, developers are also enabled to deploy virtual machines or to discover the future of cloud computing with ZFlist, a game-changing Docker-compatible solution. As [ZFlist](https://threefold.io/tech/zflist) is distributed across many mini virtual machines (VMs), it provides the ideal infrastructure for edge workloads on a highly secure level. On top of that, the data produced by these workloads can be stored in our [Quantum Safe File System](https://threefold.io/blog/post/building_a_new_internet_from_the_ground_up_pt2/) (QSFS) solution. Our QSFS is highly compatible with most storage tools (e.g. S3) and protocols (e.g. IPFS). In addition to that, developers using our tech are enabled to set the terms for storing their workloads based on their needs – they even have the opportunity to scale their applications to the edge with powerful compute and storage capabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
By contributing and lending storage capacity on Filecoin’s marketplace, providers receive rewards, executed by Filecoin’s blockchain. However, providers can only participate in Filecoin’s market if their nodes are “[built specifically for Filecoin](https://docs.filecoin.io/about-filecoin/what-is-filecoin/#for-storage-providers).” Actually, Filecoin nodes are IPFS nodes and their most advanced implementation is based on Lotus, the Filecoin Node Client. Our [3Nodes](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/technology/technology?id=_3nodes) have easy plug-and-play functionalities, allowing even people without technical skills to participate by getting a 3Node from one of our certified hardware partners and downloading our stateless and lightweight operating system [Zero-OS](https://threefold.io/tech/zero-os), the driving force behind our Grid. 3Nodes can even be plugged in at your home. Filecoin, however, doesn’t seem to offer any kind of certified hardware.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
While we’ve built our own operating system [from scratch](https://threefold.io/blog/post/zero_os_blog/), starting just with a Linux kernel, Filecoin doesn't have its own OS. ThreeFold is not only more inclusive but also has a much higher scalability as anyone’s able to participate. In contrast, Filecoin even issues a warning in their [documentation](https://docs.filecoin.io/mine/) which states that in order to run a successful mining operation, one has to meet high hardware requirements and to be highly familiar with Filecoin. Thanks to our autonomous, self-healing technology, no maintenance is required. To ensure the security of our 3Nodes can’t be accessed physically once booted. Therefore, our ThreeFold Grid is much more inclusive, as the network capacity on it is provided by many people and organizations constituting what we like to call “[People’s Internet](https://threefold.io/blog/post/tf_grid_peoples_internet/).” Currently, we’re planning to extend our reach to enable even more people to join the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Filecoin’s native token FIL and the [ThreeFold Token](https://threefold.io/tft) (TFT) are both utility tokens that fuel an open-source cloud. The earning model for FIL follows a simple logic for earning: the more storage a miner adds, the more FIL the respective miner will be rewarded with while also receiving FIL from users leasing their storage capacity. However, Filecoin miners must stake their FIL and can even lose their stake if their node does not perform, whereas our farming model doesn’t require staking, so farmers don’t risk losing their funds. In addition to that, our ThreeFold Tokens (TFT) can represent either a unit of compute, storage or network on the [ThreeFold Grid](https://threefold.io/grid) and our farmers are rewarded for connecting one of these types of capacity to our Grid. Moreover, we’ll soon implement a [new discount model](https://forum.threefold.io/t/introducing-tf-chain-an-updated-billing-model/1277), providing users with discounted capacity pricings based on the amount of ThreeFold Tokens stored in a user’s wallet.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
In Filecoin’s model, [mining](https://docs.filecoin.io/mine/how-mining-works/) means contributing storage capacity to be leased by users on the marketplace that are looking to store their data. Currently, Filecoin has two types of miners – storage miners, who are responsible for storing data, and retrieval miners, who are responsible for the fast retrieval of files. A retrieval miner’s “ability to close retrieval deals” are determined by the miner’s respective bandwidth and response time. ThreeFold’s [farming](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__farming_intro) is the concept of expanding the Internet with more network, compute, and storage capacity. Farmers are [rewarded](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__farming_reward) income in the form of TFTs for providing internet capacity. Moreover, anyone can become a farmer, as farmers are independent from ThreeFold. There’s no technical knowledge is required to connect to our global peer-to-peer Internet infrastructure and all it takes is network bandwidth and electricity, in addition to our 3Node – without the interference of any type of intermediary. Therefore, a ThreeFold Farmer is ThreeFold’s more sustainable equivalent of the miners of other cryptocurrencies, disrupting the centralized data center model.
|
||||
|
||||
## Conclusion
|
||||
|
||||
To conclude, the two projects share the same vision of bringing users’ data closer to their respective owners, establishing an open cloud market that is independent from the few big centralized cloud providers currently dominating the market. Like ThreeFold, Filecoin seeks to provide a [network](https://filecoin.io/store/#flexible) built as well as owned by the people, regardless of their location. Nevertheless, Filecoin is focused on storage and mainly based on the IPFS protocol, only providing an incentive layer on top. In contrast, ThreeFold provides [all three](https://threefold.io/blog/post/an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid/) major low-level components of the internet’s backbone: compute, storage and network. Additionally, ThreeFold’s P2P Cloud offers a holistic set of solutions – from our Planetary Network and our Quantum Safe File System to our eVDC and marketplace. All in all, the technology and infrastructure we’re providing is turning traditional IT upside down.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
This is why ThreeFold is the [ideal substrate](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-is-the-substrate-for-decloud/1295) for projects like Filecoin to run on, as we’re already IPFS-compatible and provide the low-level primitives for a fully decentralized cloud. So, we believe Filecoin and ThreeFold could team up to jointly drive the decentralization of cloud.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
On their website, Filecoin [states](https://filecoin.io/build/#community) that they’re all about “coming together to collaborate and build something greater,” so they seem open to collaboration – which is very appealing to us, as we truly believe in collaboration to effect change at a large scale to fully decentralize the [Internet and Cloud](https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/ambitious-startup-to-disrupt-the-internet-and-cloud/b38rwj4). Thanks for continuing this journey with me and don’t forget to stay tuned for the next stop: Storj!
|
||||
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: project_comparison_4_storj
|
||||
title: "A Journey through the Decentralization and Blockchain Space – Part Four: Storj"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, threefold_cloud, technology, blockchain, peer_to_peer]
|
||||
category: [foundation, cloud, technology]
|
||||
image: ./project_comparison_4_storj.png
|
||||
image_caption: Storj & how it compares to ThreeFold
|
||||
excerpt: Follow me to the fourth stop on my journey through the space. This time, we’re looking into Storj!
|
||||
authors: [hannah_cordes]
|
||||
created: 2021-10-21
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Welcome to the fourth part of our journey through the decentralization space. After exploring [Dfinity](https://threefold.io/blog/post/project_comparison_1_dfinity/), [Akash](https://threefold.io/blog/post/project_comparison_2_akash/), and most recently [Filecoin](https://threefold.io/blog/post/project_comparison_3_filecoin/), we’ll now explore Storj to find out what we have in common and where ThreeFold stands out. Here we go!
|
||||
|
||||
## Storj & how the project compares to ThreeFold
|
||||
|
||||
[Storj](https://www.storj.io) is a decentralized cloud storage (DCS) solution founded in 2014 by Shawn Wilkinson, offering cloud object storage on its network of nodes and ISPs spread across different countries.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold and Storj are both open source projects that view transparency as an integral part of their business philosophy. Actually, ThreeFold is the first full-stack blockchain-enabled [cloud](https://cloud.threefold.io/) to be made open source – all of our code is open source and available for everyone to review or use.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Another similarity is that security and privacy are crucial aspects of our projects. Both are private by design and believe it’s vital that every person has total [control and ownership](https://threefold.io/blog/post/threefold_data_sovereignty/) over their data – not even Storj or ThreeFold can access the data of users within their respective ecosystems, creating trustless environments. Storj provides security and privacy by encrypting the data by an [Uplink client](https://docs.storj.io/dcs/concepts/overview) before it is uploaded to its DCS. The data is then split into pieces which are distributed across different nodes and ISPs connected to Storj’s cloud network. At ThreeFold, we’re creating an [entirely secure](https://forum.threefold.io/t/critical-security-updates-for-apple-and-google-underline-need-for-secure-it-ecosystem/1271), peer-to-peer IT ecosystem that empowers users and gives them back control and ownership of their own data. We’re [secure](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/threefold__usp_secure?id=network-security) across all dimensions of our solutions – from our operating system Zero-OS to Quantum Safe File System ([QSFS](https://threefold.io/tech/zdbfs)) and [Planetary Network](https://threefold.io/tech/planetary-network).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
While Storj does not have its own operating system, we’ve built our [Zero-OS](https://www.threefold.io/tech/zero-os) from scratch. It allows servers to run autonomously and workloads to be hosted securely, preventing them from administrative exploits and errors. The self-driving and self-healing [features](https://threefold.io/blog/post/zero_os_blog/) of Zero-OS eliminate backdoors, reduce the hacking surface and remove the need for human involvement.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Both projects are compatible with certain IT tools and protocols. While Storj is S3-compatible and [integrates](https://www.storj.io/integrations) a couple of developer tools like FileZilla or Fastly, ThreeFold is highly compatible with leading industry standards and tools from S3 to Docker containers, [Kubernetes](https://forum.threefold.io/t/grid-utilization-plan-part-one/1157) and more. Moreover, ThreeFold can run anything that runs on Linux, allowing for a seamless migration of any digital workload, even from [traditional cloud providers](https://threefold.io/blog/post/threefold_cloud_vs_centralized_providers_like_aws_azure/) like Microsoft Azure or AWS.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
A difference between the projects is that Storj focuses on providing the storage layer for developers to build storage applications like Dropbox upon, rather than offering such services themselves, whereas our energy-efficient full stack [cloud infrastructure](https://cloud.threefold.io/) includes solutions like the [ThreeFold Marketplace](https://threefold.io/marketplace) of ready-made peer-to-peer applications that runs on our Edge Virtual Data Center ([eVDC](https://threefold.io/info/cloud#/cloud__evdc)). Moreover, we’re working with innovative teams and developers to develop self-sovereign [alternatives](https://threefold.io/blog/post/interview_with_jimber/) to commonly used applications (e.g. video conferencing, office tools).
|
||||
|
||||
### Network & Storage
|
||||
|
||||
On Storj’s decentralized network, uploaded data is automatically spread across nodes in different countries. The storage capacity on Storj’s network is increased whenever a new node is connected to it. There are roughly 9,6 Petabyte of data stored on Storj with nodes in more than 80 countries, whereas roughly 85 Petabyte of storage, compute, and network capacity are deployed on the [ThreeFold Grid](https://threefold.io/grid). Currently, the nodes connected to our Grid are spread over more than [50 countries](https://explorer.grid.tf).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
While Storj only offers storage capacity, ThreeFold provides storage, compute, and network capacity. Moreover, our system is endlessly scaleable, whereas Storj’s scalability is limited as it does not empower people without technical skills to contribute and has more complex structures, such as its Satellite component which will be explained further down. We’re continuously extending our reach and our system is capable of seamlessly growing on demand, as it enables anyone to [become a 3Node](https://threefold.io/farm) on our ThreeFold Grid. Moreover, our self-driving and self-healing [technology](https://threefold.io/tech) is unique in the space and removes the need for monitoring and maintaining the nodes.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Storage nodes on Storj are responsible for storing and returning data reliably. While Storj generally allows anyone with the excess capacity and bandwidth to run a node on its network, the project does not offer certified hardware. With Storj, anyone who wants to become a node operator has to build their own nodes which have to meet the specific hardware [requirements](https://docs.storj.io/node/before-you-begin/prerequisites) of Storj. At ThreeFold, our technology was designed to scale to anywhere electricity and bandwidth can be found to meet local digital infrastructure needs, to empower the unconnected and to drive our vision of an interconnected world. This is also why we’re working with certified hardware partners to provide [plug-and-play](https://shop.threefold.tech/index.php?route=common/home) 3Nodes. These 3Nodes enable even people without technical skills to join and contribute to what we like to call the [People’s Internet](https://threefold.io/blog/post/join_the_peoples_internet/), as [we believe](https://threefold.io/mission) that everyone should be given equal chances and that Internet access is a human right.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Next to the storage nodes, there are two other [main components](https://docs.storj.io/dcs/concepts/overview) of the Storj network: Uplink and Satellite. [Uplink](https://docs.storj.io/dcs/concepts/definitions) is Storj’s umbrella term for any application that stores or retrieves data and encrypts, encodes, and coordinates data with other services. Storj’s [Satellite](https://docs.storj.io/dcs/concepts/satellite) consists of a set of storage node services like storage node reputation, data repair, billing and more. Storj users have to sign up for accounts on Satellites and pick a specific Satellite to trust. While any user could run their own Satellite in theory, Storj recommends users to create an account on a Satellite that is hosted by a third party like Storj Labs to reduce complexity. This approach, however, fosters centralization, whereas our peer-to-peer [infrastructure](https://smartereum.com/189750/threefold-is-audaciously-building-a-new-decentralized-internet/) is an open system where anyone can provide and utilize cloud resources without any intermediaries. On top of that, we’ve implemented cryptographically-secured deployment specifications, called [Smart Contracts for IT](https://threefold.io/tech/smart-contract), to ensure that workloads run as intended in a tamper-proof way, and allow systems to scale and heal autonomously without intermediaries.
|
||||
|
||||
### Tokenomics & Payment Methods
|
||||
|
||||
Both projects have native utility tokens. While the Storj token is an Ethereum-based token that represents a unit of storage capacity on the Storj network, [ThreeFold Tokens](https://threefold.io/tft) (TFT) can represent either a unit of compute, storage or network on the ThreeFold Grid. Some Storj community members [criticize](https://forum.storj.io/t/the-elephant-in-the-room-where-is-the-storj-token-utility/12452) a lack of utility of the Storj token, as storage capacity on Storj can be purchased and paid for not only in Storj token but also using fiat payment options like credit card or invoice. However, Storj themselves don’t see this as an issue and [state](https://www.storj.io/blog/storj-token-balances-and-flows-report-q1-2021) that the intention behind their tokens is to facilitate the provision and receipt of data storage and not to create a digital currency or any other kind of financial instrument. In contrast, our ThreeFold Tokens are the fuel for IT capacity, as they allow people to hold current and future cloud capacity on the ThreeFold Grid. Moreover, a limited supply of four billion ThreeFold Token has been set to keep the currency scarce, while the burning mechanism simultaneously ensures continuous rewards for current and future nodes. Find out more about our two algorithms, Proof-of-Capacity (PoC) and Proof-of-Utilization (PoU), in our [tokenomics](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tokens/threefold__tokenomics).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
By connecting storage nodes to Storj’s network and providing storage capacity to others, node operators get rewarded with Storj tokens which they receive [from Storj Labs](https://www.storj.io/blog/storj-token-balances-and-flows-report-q2-2021) as a centralized payment operator, whereas ThreeFold Token are already rewarded upon the connection of capacity to our Grid. Moreover, storage capacity on Storj’s network can only be purchased with a subscription-based [model](https://www.storj.io/pricing). With ThreeFold, anyone can become a farmer and be [rewarded income](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__farming_reward) in the form of ThreeFold Tokens for [expanding](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/farming/threefold__farming_intro) the Internet by contributing cloud capacity. ThreeFold Tokens incentivize an open and autonomous [peer-to-peer](https://threefold.io/tech/peer-to-peer) system free from any type of intermediary. We’re enabling anyone to become an independent farmer, as we believe in empowering people and that no single entity should have the power to control systems. Based on our [ThreeFold Blockchain](https://threefold.io/tech/tf-chain), which will be released on Testnet 3.0 soon, a new discount as well as [billing model](https://forum.threefold.io/t/introducing-tf-chain-an-updated-billing-model/1277) will be introduced. The latter will allow users to authorize [smart contracts](https://threefold.io/tech/smart-contract) to automatically deduct their wallets according to the capacity they use.
|
||||
|
||||
## Conclusion
|
||||
|
||||
In summary, we both share the same vision of a decentralized Internet. The biggest difference between Storj and ThreeFold is that Storj is focused on providing storage, whereas [ThreeFold](https://threefold.io/blog/post/an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid/) does not only provide storage but also compute and network capacity. While Storj seeks to be the storage layer for the [decentralized Internet](https://threefold.io/blog/post/quest_decentralize_internet/), ThreeFold provides the [low-level primitives](https://threefold.io/blog/post/an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid/) for a *truly* decentralized Internet: compute, storage and network.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
While we’re the [largest](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/06/20/largest-distributed-peer-to-peer-grid-on-the-planet-laying-foundation-for-a-decentralized-internet/), most advanced peer-to-peer cloud infrastructure in the world and are expanding fast, some aspects of Storj's storage network still function in a rather centralized manner, such as their payment model and Satellites. In addition to that, we’re providing the ideal infrastructure for edge workloads. The project could therefore [benefit](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-is-the-substrate-for-decloud/1295) from moving on top of our fully decentralized, highly energy-efficient and autonomous [infrastructure](https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/ambitious-startup-to-disrupt-the-internet-and-cloud/b38rwj4). Together, we could drive the [decentralization](https://www.econotimes.com/ThreeFold-DFINITY-and-the-race-to-Decentralize-the-Internet-1618367) of storage capacity all over the world. We believe in a world without boundaries, where people are able to share information, value and knowledge without limits nor intermediaries. To achieve this vision and to effect change at a large scale it takes collaboration. Thanks for coming along and stay tuned, as we’ll take a closer look at Holochain next!
|
||||
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: quest_decentralize_internet
|
||||
title: "Our Quest to Fully Decentralize the Internet"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, threefold_cloud, technology, blockchain, peer_to_peer]
|
||||
category: [foundation, cloud]
|
||||
image: ./quest_decentralize_internet.png
|
||||
image_caption: Our Quest to Fully Decentralize the Internet
|
||||
excerpt: It's our mission to transform the Internet and Cloud. Learn more about the status quo and how we're working on fully decentralizing the entire Internet!
|
||||
authors: [hannah_cordes]
|
||||
created: 2021-10-14
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Tim Berners-Lee created the web server and browser in 1990. Back then, the web was of a free, rather decentralized nature in which no single entity was to control the access to it. With the client-server architecture of the web, however, centralization came about. [Nowadays](https://threefold.io/info/threefold#/threefold__why_intro?id=everyone-should-be-autonomous), the web as well as the Internet in general are highly centralized. There are only a few companies acting as gatekeepers to large parts of today’s Internet. The Internet as we know it is continuously [struggling with issues](https://theconversation.com/web-3-0-the-decentralised-web-promises-to-make-the-internet-free-again-113139) related to its centralized nature – from censorship and attacks on net neutrality to manipulation attempts from companies with [monopolistic power](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/08/28/who-owns-the-internet). These issues are systematic and major players like Amazon or Facebook are [benefitting](https://techmonitor.ai/boardroom/power-of-tech-companies) from the situation as it is. This business model is also highly reliant on centralized hyperscale [data centers](https://threefold.io/blog/post/data_leaks/) that also come with a whole set of issues, from their vulnerability and limited scalability to their extremely high energy consumption [and more](https://threefold.io/blog/post/threefold_cloud_vs_centralized_providers_like_aws_azure/).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
People have become the [product](https://threefold.io/blog/post/threefold_data_sovereignty/) of a business model where companies offer their services in exchange for personal data – in order to capitalize on and exploit the data, basically squeezing people out for their data like oranges for juice. In times where [data exploitation](https://www.techradar.com/news/why-personal-data-exploitation-has-become-the-norm) is the norm, it makes sense that data is often referred to as digital oil or gold. Moreover, algorithms of social media platforms increasingly lead to content provoking controversy and [addictive](https://thereboot.com/creating-decentralized-social-media-alternatives-to-facebook-and-twitter/) engagement as this type of content tends to increase the time people spend on the platforms – with shocking impacts like The Wall Street Journals’ [investigation](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-11631713039) “The Facebook Files” and The New York Times’ audio series [Rabbit Hole](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/podcasts/rabbit-hole-prologue.html) show.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
All of these issues have strengthened the push towards decentralization, mainly associated with the blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. However, many of the projects in the decentralized space still rely on centralized providers or structures to some degree. The second most-popular blockchain in the world, [Ethereum](https://threefold.io/blog/post/decentralize_blockchain/), for example, has 60% of its nodes run on [centralized cloud providers](https://threefold.io/blog/post/threefold_cloud_vs_centralized_providers_like_aws_azure/) with 25% of them running on Amazon Web Services (AWS). [Akash](https://threefold.io/blog/post/project_comparison_2_akash/), a blockchain-based cloud computing platform, prevents unutilized capacity from centralized cloud computing services from going to waste. Leveraging this underutilized cloud capacity, however, also causes Akash to be highly dependent on [centralized capacity](https://blog.orchid.com/akash-networks-greg-osuri-on-decentralizing-cloud-computing/). [Dfinity’s](https://threefold.io/blog/post/project_comparison_1_dfinity/) platform for decentralized apps (dApps) is based on an ecosystem of independent data centers, which makes it rather centralized on an infrastructural level.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
While the previously mentioned projects are all seeking to push decentralization, they all have one thing in common: they rely on centralized structures or providers at least to some degree and therefore, are not fully decentralized yet. So, what does [true decentralization](https://threefold.io/blog/post/decentralize_blockchain/) look like?
|
||||
|
||||
## How ThreeFold is Changing the Game
|
||||
|
||||
It is our [mission](https://threefold.io/mission) to transform the Internet and Cloud and to create borderless opportunities for humanity. Therefore, we‘re truly committed to decentralizing the infrastructure behind the Internet to scale current and future digital workloads. At Threefold, we’re building an entirely [new infrastructure](https://threefold.io/blog/post/an_intro_to_the_threefold_grid/) from the ground up, starting with a [Grid](https://threefold.io/grid) of new, neutral capacity and our operating system [Zero-OS](https://threefold.io/blog/post/zero_os_blog/). Our ThreeFold Grid, based on open-source [technology](https://threefold.io/tech), enables an autonomous, [secure](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tfgrid/threefold__usp_secure?id=network-security), and energy-efficient infrastructure that allows for unlimited scalability while remaining affordable. Our Grid is the largest and [most advanced](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/06/20/largest-distributed-peer-to-peer-grid-on-the-planet-laying-foundation-for-a-decentralized-internet/) peer-to-peer infrastructure in the world, already available in more than [50 countries](https://explorer.grid.tf/) and keeps expanding fast. With our energy-efficient full stack [cloud infrastructure](https://cloud.threefold.io), uniting compute, storage, and network, we are much more comprehensive than other projects.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
At ThreeFold, we believe in giving power to the people by developing technologies that empower individuals, enable social participation, and foster collaboration. We’re enabling even people without technical skills to [join the network](https://threefold.io/farm) with plug-and-play [3Nodes](https://shop.threefold.tech/index.php?route=common/home) offered through our certified hardware partners. The ThreeFold Grid is therefore [more inclusive](https://www.threefold.io/blog/post/tf_grid_peoples_internet/) and allows any individual to participate. Our peer-to-peer nature removes the need of centralized servers and any type of intermediary, allowing applications and data to live closer to where they’re being utilized.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
In addition to that, we believe that no one but you should own your data. Our technology empowers every user to be [data sovereign](https://threefold.io/blog/post/threefold_data_sovereignty/), giving them full control over their own data by using a variety of innovative technologies, such as autonomous IT, blockchain, and [peer-to-peer](https://threefold.io/tech/peer-to-peer) networking. This way, our technology is turning traditional IT upside down, enabling a data-sovereign Internet that gives users [control](https://threefold.io/blog/post/join_the_peoples_internet/) and ownership of their data in an [entirely secure](https://forum.threefold.io/t/critical-security-updates-for-apple-and-google-underline-need-for-secure-it-ecosystem/1271), peer-to-peer IT ecosystem.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
All in all, we provide the low-level primitives for a [decentralized world](https://forum.threefold.io/t/threefold-is-the-substrate-for-decloud/1295), enabling any project to run on a fully decentralized, [energy-efficient](https://new.threefold.io/blog/post/for_our_planet/), and self-healing infrastructure. As we truly believe in collaboration to effect change at a large scale to fully decentralize the [Internet and Cloud](https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/ambitious-startup-to-disrupt-the-internet-and-cloud/b38rwj4), our [partnership](https://threefold.io/partners) ecosystem keeps growing. Most recently, we announced a [strategic partnership](https://threefold.io/partners/owncloud) with ownCloud, an alternative to public clouds with more than 200 million users worldwide, that aims to advance the decentralization of the [consumer cloud](https://threefold.io/news/post/owncloud_threefold/).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
So, we’d like to invite you to join forces with us to further push the [decentralization](https://www.econotimes.com/ThreeFold-DFINITY-and-the-race-to-Decentralize-the-Internet-1618367) of the Internet together – whether by becoming a [3Node](https://threefold.io/farm) or building on our ThreeFold Grid, by buying our ThreeFold Token ([TFT](https://threefold.io/tft)), our currency for a decentralized world, or by [testing](https://threefold.io/info/cloud#/cloud__evdc_getting_started) our P2P Cloud. Let’s [revolutionize](https://tgdaily.com/web/6-dfinity-threefold-are-leading-an-internet-decentralization-revolution/) the Internet together!
|
||||
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|
||||
---
|
||||
id: realizing_the_promise
|
||||
title: "Co-Realizing the Promise"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, peer_to_peer, community, why]
|
||||
category: [foundation]
|
||||
image: ./realizing_the_promise.png
|
||||
image_caption: Co-Realizing the Promise
|
||||
excerpt: Together with our global community, we're realizing the initial promise of an open-source, peer-to-peer Internet owned by the people.
|
||||
authors: [sacha_obeegadoo]
|
||||
created: 2022-03-21
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
What was once a massive global movement sparked by the idealism of free culture and the net, is now hosting a wave of unintended consequences that may destroy sovereignty and freedom as we know it. The digital revolution and the “democratization” of the Internet promised to lead us to a prosperous and equitable world, one that brought us closer together, eliminating both physical and virtual boundaries.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
*“We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth… a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity… Your legal concepts of property, expression, identity, movement, and context do not apply to us. They are all based on matter, and there is no matter here.” – Declaration of independence of Cyberspace – John Perry Barlow – Davos, 1996.*
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Unfortunately, this is not the world we live in today. Borders are hardening in our virtual world with the Great Firewall of China and the widespread emergence of Internet “clusters”. Many countries have attempted to turn off Internet services or to prevent free speech. Networks and algorithms turn us into data generators, influencing our daily habits and interests. It’s turning into a big AI-driven machine that commoditizes our lives, leaves the underserved behind and fails to provide sovereignty where we gather.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
A centralized Internet which is controlled by a handful of companies is a serious existential threat. The technology that connects us is now used to distract, manipulate, polarize, divide and control the way we think, act and live our lives. If emerging technologies such as IoT, Blockchain and the Metaverse are not hosted on a self-sovereign, peer-to-peer infrastructure owned by all of us, we may be running head down into the matrix.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
With billions of people and IoT devices expected to join this broken digital world this decade, we have no choice but to heal our broken information ecosystem if we want to address the challenges we face collectively. So as we move towards a world where tech and science are merging together, how do we ensure a neutral, inclusive and regenerative digital future – one that truly serves humanity and eliminates the barriers that divide us?
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The peer-to-peer Internet incentivizes all citizens of our world to connect computers from their homes or offices to participate in a distributed data economy owned by the people. By allowing humans and machines to interweave without intermediaries, a decentralized and self-sovereign Internet can emerge.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Quite simply – there is no good reason that our data is being stored and controlled by others in the information age. Why are we paying centralized companies to handle our information on our behalf, when it makes us vulnerable to be turned into products, and would take us the same time to do it ourselves?
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Peer-to-peer isn’t an alternative to the Internet, it’s an alternative to centralized cloud giants. The Internet doesn’t need replacing; it is one of the most beautiful inventions of our civilization, if not the greatest. Which is not to say that cloud providers are completely obsolete. They serve functions that decentralized systems cannot (e.g. big data); but peer-to-peer systems are just infinitely more resilient, secure, private and scalable.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
In times of exponential evolution and innovation, we have our fears around the Internet.
|
||||
|
||||
We don’t need to disconnect ourselves even further from our reality and it is our responsibility to ensure a safe and fair future for the generations to come. A centralized Internet which is controlled by a handful of companies is a serious existential threat. If emerging technologies such as IoT, Blockchain and the Metaverse are not hosted on a self-sovereign, peer-to-peer infrastructure owned by all of us, we may be running head down into the matrix.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The potential of technology to change the world remains endless and limited to our own imagination. We decide to switch from fear to love, and to move forward as one humanity. It is our responsibility as global citizens to pursue greater collective consciousness.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Join the [ThreeFold](https://t.me/threefold) movement, a community of like-minded people that build the world of tomorrow!
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
* Learn how to [host the Internet](http://threefold.io/farm) at your home or office.
|
||||
* Get [TFT](https://gettft.com/gettft/), the currency of the peer-to-peer Internet.
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: smart_contract_blog
|
||||
title: A Smart Contract for all IT workloads
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid,technology]
|
||||
category: [farming,cloud,foundation,aci,twin]
|
||||
image: ./smart_contract_blog.png
|
||||
image_caption: smart contract for IT
|
||||
excerpt: The Smart Contract for IT allows you, your company or your community to execute the storage and running of your files and applications securely with consensus and automatic billing.
|
||||
authors: [sacha_obeegadoo]
|
||||
created: 2021-05-25
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
ThreeFold was inspired by the blockchain burst when it was created in 2016. After doing a comprehensive scan of the technological space we realized that Blockchain holds the best technology to store (1) Smart Contracts and (2) Transactions in an immutable way. We created our own blockchain database: Rivine to host the Smart Contract layer before switching to the Parity Substrate of Polkadot and our Transactional blockchain to the Stellar Network.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
While we use blockchain technology, ThreeFold is much more than just "a blockchain project" as we apply many more revolutionary technologies. We decided to use Parity Substrate as we don’t see the need to create something if there’s already great technologies out there that we can already use. Today we’re proud of our Smart Contract for IT layer and approach the ThreeFold Grid v3.0 release this year which will expose its full potential to interact with the primitives of the grid.
|
||||
|
||||
## So what is this Smart Contract for IT about?
|
||||
|
||||
The Smart Contract for IT allows you, your company or your community to execute the storage and running of your files and applications securely with consensus and automatic billing. You could compare it as a fingerprint check and your data would be accessible only if presenting your private key (fingerprint). Let’s maybe go through the process for a better idea of how this works.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The smart contracts are like recipes for chefs to cook exactly what you want. In that sense they need to be very accurate and as descriptive as possible to deliver what you need. In the case of ThreeFold, the smart contracts would define different sets of Internet resources you would need to store files, run applications, or communicate across the network.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Whenever you want to reserve more resources to store your latest album or run your applications, you will define the resources you need to your 3Bot or Digital Twin (your personal virtual system administrators) which will then look at different smart contracts that are available and choose the most appropriate package. For e.g. Reserve 3 PB of Storage in Switzerland across 7 nodes.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Following that, your 3Bot or Digital Twin will create and register the smart contract in the blockchain database in a few seconds, providing you with all your specific needs. It will also store and secure some instructions to the BCDB for the nodes to meet smart contract completion.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
ThreeFold had to make sure that user data would remain ultra-secure. Inspired by storage and communication algorithms used in space, we integrated it between the Smart Contract layer and Zero OS. The algorithm splits data into unrecognizable ‘slices’ that are distributed via network connections to different nodes locally or across the world, and that can be reconstructed only with your fingerprint.
|
||||
|
||||
## More than the average Smart Contract
|
||||
|
||||
Via your Smart Contract for IT, you can also define a consensus mechanism and create multi-signatures for smart contract execution or completion to deliver appropriate digital services in for example work related activities.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
The beauty of the Smart Contract for IT is that it can work with thousands of connected nodes for the proper execution of any digital requirements on the infrastructure, verify if consensus was reached or not, download the right files to execute the smart contract and verify them, make sure that no hacker or outsider can ever gain access or influence its execution and more.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
If you want to learn more about ThreeFold’s Smart Contract for IT, read more [here](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold/#/internet4__smartcontract_it).
|
||||
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,64 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: stake_tft_become_validator
|
||||
title: "Stake TFT and Become a ThreeFold Validator"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, community, blockchain, update]
|
||||
category: [foundation, cloud, technology]
|
||||
image: ./stake_tft_become_validator.png
|
||||
image_caption: Stake TFT and Become a ThreeFold Validator
|
||||
excerpt: ThreeFold is realizing the initial promise of an open-source, peer-to-peer Internet owned by the people. Anyone can become a validator and participate in the decentralization of the Internet economy.
|
||||
authors: [hannah_cordes]
|
||||
created: 2022-03-16
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold is an innovative Internet infrastructure. By applying peer-to-peer technology to the Internet, ThreeFold operates without centralized cloud providers or authorities the management of transactions and the offering of Internet capacity is carried out collectively by a people-powered network.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold is open-source – its code is public, nobody owns or controls ThreeFold and everyone can take part. Through many of its unique properties, ThreeFold represents the next-evolution of the Internet and is the low-level foundation to support any current or future digital workload including Edge Computing, Web2, Web3, Blockchain, IoT and the Metaverse.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold aims to ensure that no application, big or small, is subject to the limitations of Web3 or the pitfalls of Web2. Its peer-to-peer Internet Grid is infinitely more resilient, secure and scalable than centralized cloud providers like AWS or Microsoft Azure.
|
||||
|
||||
## Participate in the ThreeFold L2 Validator Program
|
||||
|
||||
The [ThreeFold Blockchain](https://threefold.io/blog/post/tf_chain/) records transactions that happen on the ThreeFold Grid, including Internet capacity (farming), Internet capacity provisioning (smart contract for IT), identity, account metadata and more.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
[Validator nodes](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/decentralization/validators/threefold__validators) support the network by remaining in sync with the ThreeFold Blockchain and recording the chain’s data while validating and/or injecting transactions. Essentially, a validator stores and validates transactions aka, mining blocks.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
With about a hundred L2 validator nodes to join the network, clients will be able to rely on a distributed, peer-to-peer network instead of relying on centralized services.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Many people and organizations rallied to run validator nodes using computing and bandwidth resources – but more are needed to allow ThreeFold to continue to grow. The rest of this post describes how you can help and what’s in it for you.
|
||||
|
||||
## Why run a ThreeFold L2 Validator?
|
||||
|
||||
L2 Validators store the records of the ThreeFold Blockchain, the ThreeFold DAO and the development of side chains on the ThreeFold Grid. There are only 50 in the first batch and 37 have already been verified – meaning there are only 13 spots left! Running an L2 validator requires 2,000,000 TFT staked in order to begin validating. This 2,000,000 TFT is the minimum bond needed to begin validating blocks. A validator also earns voting rights in the ThreeFold DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), which is responsible for the operations of the ThreeFold Blockchain and ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Running a validator node on a computer isn’t a complicated task. For many of us who love ThreeFold, we want to support the decentralization of the peer-to-peer Internet, and running a validator node is a great way to do that. Also, it is a unique and revolutionary project to have in your room or office. Running a validator node requires little electricity, close to zero technical knowledge, and no real time commitments.
|
||||
|
||||
## Validator Node Rewards
|
||||
|
||||
For their commitment, and as an incentive for their continued participation, validators are rewarded with a share of the ThreeFold Grid’s revenue. By helping the network reach consensus, validators also earn rewards for processing transactions into new blocks or checking the work of other validators because that's what keeps the ThreeFold Blockchain secure. A minimum of 5% yield is foreseen in the next 2 years.
|
||||
|
||||
## Join the Peer-to-Peer Revolution
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold is realizing the initial promise of an open-source, peer-to-peer Internet owned by the people. Anyone can become a validator and participate in the decentralization of the Internet economy. If you are interested in running one, just follow these simple steps:
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
* **Step 1**: Create an account (wallet) with the [ThreeFold Connect](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tokens/threefold__threefold_connect) app.
|
||||
* **Step 2**: Buy the required amount of TFT to reserve your validator. Find all TFT buying options [here](https://library.threefold.me/info/threefold#/tokens/threefold__how_to_buy).
|
||||
* **Step 3**: Log into the [ThreeFold Forum](https://forum.threefold.io/) using ThreeFold Connect and go to the [L2 Validator Signup](https://forum.threefold.io/c/dao/validators-signup-l2/83) category.
|
||||
* **Step 4**: Follow the [registration instructions](https://forum.threefold.io/t/procedure-to-register-your-l2-validator-node/1864) to become a L2 Validator, and review the checklist of your application before submission.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Someone from the ThreeFold community will get in touch with you within the next few days to welcome you to the ThreeFold universe. We’ll have a brief call to verify your identity and wallet treasury to confirm your application. The successful verification process secures your spot as a ThreeFold L2 Validator.
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,79 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: tech_new_internet
|
||||
title: A new approach to the Internet Architecture
|
||||
tags: [technology,threefold_grid]
|
||||
category: [farming,cloud,foundation]
|
||||
image: ./tech_new_internet.png
|
||||
image_caption: internet tech
|
||||
excerpt: The Edge internet needs a different approach. So, we started as from scratch and shaped a totally new approach..
|
||||
authors: [weynand_kuijpers]
|
||||
created: 2018-05-12
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## ThreeFold's technology does not follow the traditional IT model
|
||||
|
||||
The Edge internet needs a different approach. So, we started from scratch and shaped a new approach. ThreeFold's open-source technology addresses the scalability, security, storage, energy, and operating issues by simplifying architectures and not relying on third-party software. This drives down costs and improves efficiencies.
|
||||
|
||||
## What is ThreeFold's Technology Toolbox?
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold's technology is based on three primary building blocks: Stateless Computing, Self-Healing Technology, and Blockchain technology - this is the core of our “Technology Toolbox".
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
- **Stateless Computing**: a stateless operating system, Zero-OS, enabling distributed hardware to form an Edge Internet grid generating IT storage and compute capacity
|
||||
- **Self-Healing Technology**: controls and operates a distributed cloud and reserves, procures, and executes workloads on the grid using our Jumpscale platform. It delivers autoscaling and automation frameworks that enable self-healing and can be adapted for any kind of IT workload.
|
||||
- **Blockchain Technology**: Via Rivine - our secure, scalable “proof of stake” blockchain, along with our identity management platform, ItsYou.online. Our blockchain technology enables user authentication, access controls, secure workloads, and heightened security.
|
||||
|
||||
## Enabling Stateless Computing
|
||||
|
||||
The global decentralized internet will be composed of thousands (millions?) of nodes distributed geographically. This means the decentralized internet must be powered by a stateless operating system that can be booted via the Internet (as opposed to living on the node locally). This removes the complexity of upgrades, truck rolls, etc.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Open-source components have been developed, Zero-OS, for the deployment of bare metal machines functioning as Internet nodes and application hosts. Our Zero-OS platform runs containerized applications and software code on secure and distributed IT infrastructure. Zero-OS can be deployed on off-the-shelf hardware by anyone willing to make server and storage capacity available in their markets and within our network.
|
||||
|
||||
### The benefits of Stateless Computing are substantial, including:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Performance**: lightweight OS without overhead for running bare-metal machines.
|
||||
- **Free**: finds the optimal performance of server & storage nodes at no cost.
|
||||
- **Private**: no data footprint remains while workloads move from one node to another.
|
||||
- **Distributed**: capacity is generated without the need for data centers: At The Edge.
|
||||
- **High-available**: easy creation of clusters while applications run in fragmented segments.
|
||||
- **Portability**: moving software from one node to another within the grid is instant.
|
||||
- **Secure**: open-source distributed software with transparent code. No security backdoors
|
||||
- **Sustainable**: energy-efficient OS resulting in very low node power consumption.
|
||||
|
||||
## Technology that is self-healing & self-driving
|
||||
|
||||
ThreeFold's Jumpscale framework and ZeroBot allow the creation of blueprints to auto-deploy applications within the compute environment. The bots are constantly checking the health and uptime of the infrastructure, and runtime environments, to guarantee the performance and availability of applications at all times.
|
||||
|
||||
### The benefits of our self-healing technology protocols include the following:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Self-Healing**: the platform regenerates when health issues that cause downtime for infrastructure and applications are detected.
|
||||
- **Intelligence**: agents capture information from the grid and make intelligent decisions to provide an ideal and optimal host environment for software code and containerized applications.
|
||||
- **Lifecycle Management**: the status of the infrastructure and the lifecycle of running applications are constantly checked and recorded.
|
||||
- **Autoscaling**: the platform automatically scales to meet application and infrastructure performance.
|
||||
|
||||
## Blockchain Technology to execute workloads and applications via smart contracts
|
||||
|
||||
The engineers developed new blockchain algorithms based on proof of stake for validation purposes and turned this into our Rivine open-source blockchain software.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
Unlike the “proof of work” blockchains that currently dominate the space, our Rivine blockchain is scalable, green, and secure - and does not rely on huge mining resources. We run our blockchain on approximately 200 dedicated nodes and do not rely on any third-party software.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
In addition to our blockchain technology, we have also developed ItsYou.Online, an identity, and access management platform. Itsyou. online uses three-factor authentication to manage access on our network and facilitate execution.
|
||||
|
||||
### The benefits of TF blockchain technology and identity management platform include:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Sustainable**: our algorithms to reach consensus use a minimal amount of energy and electricity compared to other blockchain software and networks.
|
||||
- **Lowest possible cost**: of transactions make it an efficient and fast payment system.
|
||||
- **Neutral**: state of the network and applications are recorded in a transparent and immutable manner.
|
||||
- **Payment fulfillment**: transactions are automatically paid using ThreeFold Tokens.
|
||||
- **Smart Contracts**: fully automated execution of contracts from customers buying Internet IT capacity.
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
All of our technology is open-source and can be accessed in the following Github Repos:
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
* Zero-OS: https://github.com/threefoldtech/zos
|
||||
* Jumpscale: https://github.com/threefoldtech/js-ng
|
||||
* BCDB : https://github.com/threefoldtech/bcdb
|
||||
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|
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@@ -1,81 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
id: tech_update_admin_portal
|
||||
title: "Introducing the TF (Chain) Admin Portal – for farmers and grid users!"
|
||||
tags: [threefold_grid, threefold_cloud, technology, blockchain, update]
|
||||
category: [foundation, cloud, technology]
|
||||
image: ./tech_update_admin_portal.png
|
||||
image_caption: The new TF (Chain) Admin Portal
|
||||
excerpt: Last week, we shared an update on what's new in TF Grid 3.0.1 – and the path to mainnet! There's been a lot of exciting progress by the team, and we wanted to share more details with you, starting with the admin portal!
|
||||
authors: [sam_taggart]
|
||||
created: 2021-11-26
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Last week, we shared an update on [what's new in TF Grid 3.0.1 – and the path to mainnet!](https://forum.threefold.io/t/whats-new-in-tf-grid-3-0-1-and-the-path-to-mainnet/1488) There's been a lot of exciting progress by the team, and we wanted to share with you some more specifics where we can – starting with the admin portal!
|
||||
|
||||
## What is the admin portal?
|
||||
|
||||
One of the requests from farmers and grid users was a to have a simpler user experience. The admin portal (aka TF Chain UI) is a response to that feedback, a graphical user interface for farmers and grid users on top of [the TF Chain](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/threefold__tfchain).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
**The admin portal is the starting point for anyone to start working with the TF Grid.** For Farmers in particular they now have a much simpler way to create a farming identity and then connect their infrastructure to the ThreeFold Grid 3.0. It is a one stop shop to start a farm. Beyond that, it's a way for any TF Grid user to create their account on the TF Chain, get a Twin, and get started (testing for now) on the TF Grid 3.0 devnet or testnet.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
*Find links to get started at the bottom!*
|
||||
|
||||
## What does the admin portal do?
|
||||
|
||||
The admin portal is a place for TF Grid users to:
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Create an account on the TF Chain and a digital twin to start smart contracting on TF Chain (allowing you to also link to your IP address for added security).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
Operate a bridge between Stellar and TF Chain on Parity Substrate (deposit TFT from Stellar, or return unused TFT to the Stellar chain, the bridge is active in both directions)
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
For farmers: create and manage your farm(s), provide IPv4 addresses available for your farm(s), attach a Stellar wallet for TFT payouts, and a link to download the bootloader for testnet and devnet (mainnet is on its way).
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
The portal also links to the new capacity explorer, which we'll share more about early next week.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
## How is this an improvement over the old process?
|
||||
|
||||
Previously, all of these tools existed, but not always in the same place or with a clear and easy-to-use UX/UI. We've tested this portal with people of all technical levels, and the response has been great! We believe the portal is a huge step forward for anyone using or managing the ThreeFold Grid.
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
More improvements will come in the next versions. As an example, we're planning for you to be able to see the connected nodes linked to your farm with their status, earned tokens, etc.
|
||||
|
||||
## Get started
|
||||
|
||||
The portal is currently available on [devnet](https://portal.dev.grid.tf) and [testnet](https://portal.test.grid.tf/). You can also find information on the portal in our library [here](https://library.threefold.me/info/manual/#/manual__tfgrid3_getstarted). *Please note, you'll need to install the Polkadot{.js} extension and create or import an account in order to get started.*
|
||||
|
||||
<br/>
|
||||
|
||||
*Visit our forum to discuss you experiences with the new admin portal [here](https://forum.threefold.io/t/introducing-the-tf-chain-admin-portal-for-farmers-and-grid-users/1526).*
|
||||
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Reference in New Issue
Block a user