One of the most discussed topics nowadays is block chain technology and how it's going to change the way transactions are done in the near future.
In this post, I'll touch upon 11 things you should know about Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service (BCS).
Block chain technology is in its early stages, with no UX strategy or experience the end user can leverage.
Some design parameters considerations should be:
- Ensuring you have the kind of assets you want to record over the block chain platform
- The inter-dependency of the defined contract
- Knowing who the key stakeholders are
Blockchain Cloud Service
1) What is Oracle PaaS and how does block chain cloud service fit there?
PaaS (Platform as Service) is the number of cloud services for application development, data management, integration, mobile and IoT that can be used to develop horizontal and SaaS integration solutions.
Block chain cloud service is a new addition to PaaS under application development. It helps you develop solutions leveraging other PaaS Services.
Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service gives you a pre-assembled platform for building and running smart contracts and maintaining a tamper-proof distributed ledger. It also reduces the need for third-party intermediaries.
2) What are commonly used words in conjunction with Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service?
These are some of the keywords and terminology used in Blockchain Distributed Ledger: smart contract, nodes, immutable, non-repudiation, ethereum, corda, hyperledger, decentralized and consensus.
3) How does the Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service work?
Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service is a network consisting of validating nodes (peers) that update the ledger and respond to queries by executing smart contract code—the business logic that runs on the blockchain.
External applications invoke transactions or run queries through client SDKs or REST API calls, which prompts selected peers to run the smart contracts.
After consensus is reached on the transaction order, transaction results are grouped into cryptographically secured, tamper-proof data blocks and sent to peer nodes to be validated and appended to the ledger. Service administrators can use the Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service web console to configure the blockchain and monitor its operation.
4) Is Oracle creating a business network on its block chain?
No, Oracle is providing a blockchain cloud platform, which customers and partners can use to create consortiums and business networks. Our solution provides the enabling distributed ledger technology and related capabilities for building blockchain applications and business networks.
5) What are the key properties of Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service?
Shared & Transparent
All participants see consistent data.
- Updates replicated across participants.
- Authorized participants access data.
Undeniable & Accurate
- Consensus from a subset of nodes on new blocks/transactions.
- Existence and validity of the record cannot be denied.
Unchangeable
- Each new block contains a hash of the previous block creating the chain.
- Distributed among participants.
- Records cannot be undetectably altered or deleted - only appended.
Encrypted for Confidentiality
- All records are encrypted.
- Only those authorized with corresponding keys can view the data.
6) What are the types of block chains?
Public (a.k.a. “Permissionless”)
- Anyone can join the network and have a copy of the ledger, e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum.
- This involves the computer resource intensive mining process to add blocks cryptographically.
- Consensus models based on computationally expensive algorithms require the processing power of many nodes to ensure security.
Permissioned
- Closed ecosystem: members are invited to join and keep a copy of the ledger.
- Who members are in the real (legal) world is known (to at least the operators of the blockchain, but not necessarily all participants).
- Consensus protocols depend on knowing who the members are, e.g. PBFT, for greater scalability.
7) What is the typical business value of BCS?
- Increase business velocity by accelerating transactions, enabling new business models and revenue streams.
- Automate multi-party business processes.
- Reduce cost and risk of using intermediaries.
- Reduce cost of fraud and regulatory compliance.
- Improve data quality and timeliness by avoiding offline reconciliation and manual exception handling.
- Increase auditability and trust, reducing audit costs.
8) What are the components of BCS?
Pre-Assembled Managed PaaS
- Rapid, global provisioning & simplified operations.
- Outsource risk as early standards evolve.
Extends Enterprise Boundaries
- Integration with Oracle SaaS and PaaS, and customer apps in cloud and on premises.
- OOTB support for Netsuite, Open Banking Platform.
Resilient, Enterprise-Grade Platform
- Secure and confidential permissioned blockchain with built-in monitoring and autonomous recovery.
- Data at rest encryption and continuous ledger backup.
9) Why did Oracle pick Hyperledger Fabric as a starting point?
Open-governed community for enterprise blockchain hosted by The Linux Foundation
- Governance model is broadly accepted within the industry.
- Oracle as a member has a voice in decisions and participates in technical committees.
Fabric project – open-source platform for distributed ledger solutions that is intended as a foundation for developing blockchain solutions.
- Provides a permissioned blockchain model with membership services.
- No cryptocurrency required!
- Offers a modular architecture allowing components, such as consensus and membership services, to be plug-and-play.
- Programmable – leverages containers to host smart contracts for automating business processes.
- Focuses on a scalable implementation with confidentiality/privacy provisions.
- Enables pluggable data store, consensus protocols, and multiple providers of membership services.
10) What are the applications of blockchain within specific industries?
Tthe block chain can be used below in financial sector:
- Retail Payments for parallel currency systems (traditional & crypto currencies) remittances
- Wholesale payments correspondent banking networks and cross-border FX
- Capital markets and securities settlements, asset/collateral documentation
- Trade finance and transaction, banking supply chain and receivables.
- Finance commodities
- Trade finance
It can also be used in the public sector for government records and regulatory certification. And in healthcare for clinical trials and anti-counterfeit drugs.
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