Have you ever asked someone what their job is or who they work for and their answer leaves you no wiser. It might sound really professional or fancy, you may even have heard of the company but your very next question is, “Great, so… What exactly do you do though?”
This is a common case for companies whose products are focused on framework or supporting other businesses. aelf falls into this category and as such it is important we are able to clearly communicate what the key objectives of the aelf project are. In my previous article we looked at some examples of real world application the aelf network can be used for. This article will be discussing the key objectives and providing a general understanding of what aelf seeks to achieve through this ground-breaking technology.
Should there be something in this article that you don’t understand, would like more clarity on or simply want discussed in further detail, please leave a comment below and I’ll respond directly or in the next article.
There are 5 main objectives in which aelf hopes to improve the blockchain world. They are as follows:
1. A highly customizable OS for Commercial Use
2. Cross-chain Interaction
3. Performance Improvement
4. Protocol Update
5. Private Chain Module
By understanding these objectives one will be able to differentiate the aelf project from all other projects seemingly similar or not. These are what set aelf apart from the rest of the world. On a basic level, this is aelf. This is how we plan to change the world.
1. A highly customizable OS for Commercial Use — aelf has often been referred to as the ‘linux system’ for blockchain. Just like linux, aelf will be building the base system and framework allowing other developers to build their own fully customized and supported system/dApplication. With this framework in place it will provide the support so developers can focus their attention on ensuring their dApp is based upon application scenarios and specific to their customer needs.
With this degree of customization, aelf can transcend industrial boundaries and make itself applicable to all developers regardless of their focus or customer needs. This aelf system can be broken up into two main components.
The first component is the aelf kernel which includes the fundamentals of a blockchain system, the mainchain. This mainchain will run the overall network and coordinate each sidechain running each customized Smart Contract or dApp.
The second component is a ‘shell’, which is the basic interactive interface for the Core. Users can either use the complete Blockchain template or quickly develop their own customized blockchain which is based upon the Core.
2. Cross-chain Interaction — the aelf platform will be designed in such a way that it will allow interaction between the sidechains and other blockchain networks like Bitcoin, Ethereum etc. the purpose of this is to allow the sharing of digital assets, and user information. Further benefits of this aspect will become clearer once the project is further developed.
3. Performance Improvement — This aspect has been discussed in some of my previous articles so I will not delve into too much depth here. Essentially this objective resulted due to some very clear and serious restrictions with the current blockchain technology. These include resource segregation, scalability and efficiency.
By keeping each sidechain focused on one Smart Contract and no data running through the mainchain, the aelf network will be able to isolate any congestion ensuring it will not affect any other chains. This will also allow for the best chain be developed for each project making it unique and perfectly suited for the customer needs and requirements. Should one chain become too complex to effectively process transactions, it should be split into parallel chains to offload the traffic, reducing congestion.
Through the use of DPoS and cloud nodes which will run a series of miners in parallel, the potential to scale current transactions to fully commercial scales are now available for all sidechains in the aelf network. Currently by having one miner function as one node, the slowest miner will bottleneck the transaction processing speeds. By allowing multiple miners to collectively combine and become one node, this will remove the bottleneck and create a network many times faster than what is currently available.
Each sidechain does not need to apply the same consensus protocol. It can choose the most appropriate for the specific requirements. By allowing this, the components and data with the chain will be much simpler and easier to manage. This brings me to the next objective.
4. Protocol Update — It is currently very difficult for a blockchain to switch Consensus Protocols, should the need arise. Since the aelf network will function with any Protocol, it also future proofs itself from becoming outdated or wasting resources in switching Protocols or not having the most effective one applied. This demonstrates foresight and looking to the future by the aelf team — something that is not often seen fully in blockchain projects.
5. Private Chain Module — One aspect that is very important for businesses is the ability to control and privatise their personal and collected data. Currently these private chains, which utilize blockchain technology, are isolated to the point they have no connection to external eco-systems or other businesses. The aelf project will be allowing users to rapidly create independent chains using our Private Chain Module and obtain full ownership of it while still utilizing the benefits of the overall network resources and security should they run the DPoS Protocol.
As you can see, this project is unlike anything that has been presented to the public to date. There are many components which will appeal to different business cases and the fundamentals will apply to all industries. Aelf has already proven itself in the business world with the astounding success in its private sale and continuing partnerships and exchange listing.
