Fleek Network Bi-Weekly Update: April 15th, 2023
The Fleek Network team returns with another bi-weekly update, highlighting the development strides made over the short 10-day period since we last checked in!
As the journey to devnet release continues, the project is rapidly evolving, with efforts geared towards optimizing performance, enhancing security, and refining the underlying architecture. As the project continues through this evolution, you can track network performance with the new benchmarks dashboard!
Explore the latest on all of these improvements from the Fleek Network development team:
Completed Tasks: Performance Metrics, Proxy Improvements, Code Migration
Performance Metrics for the Reputation System
First, the team has completed the initial development of performance metrics for the reputation system. The reputation system itself will be essential for ensuring the trustworthiness and reliability of nodes within the network. Built upon Eigentrust principles, each node will be able to allocate trustworthiness ratings to other nodes with which they engage. Nodes that accumulate higher reputation scores due to their performance and positive conduct will be given more requests, while those with lower scores will experience the opposite.
The reputation system performance metrics are now being merged with the rest of the protocol, with the next step being work on the aggregation and storage of these metrics.
Proxy Improvements
In the last Fleek Network update, work on the proxy was mentioned as an in-progress item. The team can now add that to the completed tasks after the new implementation was finished!
Specifically, the original NGINX implementation has been replaced with a more efficient Rust implementation. Additionally, the team has added an auto-reload feature for TLS, enhancing the security and reliability of the proxy.
Code Migration to Blake3
Finally, the team has successfully migrated two-thirds of the entire codebase to Blake3, a high-performance cryptographic hash function. This migration includes the provider, UFDP, and data storage components of the network AND will offer improved efficiency, speed, and security!
In-Progress Milestones: UFDP, Node Syncing, Testnet Planning
UFDP Performance Testing
The most crucial task the team is currently taking on is Ursa Fair Delivery Protocol (UFDP) performance testing, after successfully forking blake3 with the required features for UFDP in parallel.
Through this they've made some performance improvements to the initial byte-transfer implementation, with resulting metrics now comparable to HTTP performance. The next step involves planning for larger-scale, distributed benchmarks which aims to ensure that the protocol performs efficiently under various conditions and load levels.
The team will use the benchmarks they’ve set up iteratively, as each piece of the protocol is implemented. This way, they’ll be able to gauge the overhead of each part as work continues on some key areas, such as integrating the blake3 proofs, and implementing the encryption and decryption of data.
Node Syncing
For users running a node for the first time, they need to first acquire the entire state of the blockchain before participating. State syncing is enabled by UFDP, and the speed at which this is done is crucial. The team is exploring a few methods for node state syncing:
- Sequential reading of data from the blockchain is the standard approach, but it can be time-consuming.
- The team is considering using their own network, dubbed "Ursa Delta”, to speed up chain state syncing. This would allow each node to quickly get up-to-date with the state of the network. The development of "Ursa Delta" aims to leverage the protocol's primitives to enhance the performance of this process.
Production Solidity Contracts
Work has started on production solidity contracts, encompassing several key components of the Network, including: Token, Node Registry, Staking, Reputation System, and Rewards.
The team is also working on implementing the economics architecture, which will define the incentive structure and overall financial ecosystem of the network. This process involves careful planning and consideration of various factors to ensure a fair and sustainable system. More information on the rollout of our economics structure will be available in the near future!
Testnet Launch Planning
Finally, as the team progresses through the early stages of release, planning for the launch of the testnet is underway. This includes coordinating with various stakeholders, setting up infrastructure, and ensuring that all necessary components are in place for a smooth rollout. The testnet will provide a critical opportunity for the community to test and evaluate the protocol before mainnet launch!
That’s all for this week 👋
Stay tuned for details about the Testnet & Economics release, both soon to be available to the public!
Want to be an early Fleek Network participant? Spin up a node with ease using the assisted installer script and join the 2200+ other nodes spread across the globe!