Products, services, and business applications based on blockchain are developed using a hyperledger fabric blockchain. What is Hyperledger Blockchain and How Does it Work?

A cooperative project called Hyperledger Fabric is now housed at the Linux Foundation. The second generation of Hyperledger Fabric, which offers quicker transactions, updated smart contracts, and simplified data sharing, was just released. Many of you would now like to know what Hyperledger Fabric is because you have a lot of questions about this blockchain framework. We are here to remove that from our front.

What is Hyperledger Fabric? 

Hyperledger Fabric, which aims to improve the present blockchain foundation, has recently attracted a lot of interest. It is an enterprise-grade distributed ledger that is open-source and tested. It functions to facilitate smart contracts for use cases in business. The terms are listed in automated smart contracts as lines of code on the blockchain. Because of the self-executing conditions between the parties, the business papers are processed on this ledger. Additionally, with choices for extreme secrecy, the transactions on this ledger are irrevocable. Data from the user is only shared with recognized network users.

How Does A Hyperledger Fabric Work?

Modular Architecture 

Smart contracts, offered by the Hyperledger Fabric, are chain codes that consist of distributed logic processing, smart transactions, transaction validation, and commitment. This modular architecture also offers plug-and-play for various components for the easy reuse of existing features and for integrating various modules in a ready-made fashion. So, if a party requires a feature that already exists on the framework, they can just plug and reuse it on their ledger. Transaction first gets submitted to the endorser peers and, after sufficient endorsement, it gets passed on to the committer. They validate the transaction, and the consenter provides permission to update the transaction on the ledger.

1. Assets 

They are represented in the JSON form or the binary one on Hyperledger Fabric. An asset can be anything that contains a monetary value on the ledger. It can be tangible or intangible, and you also get the chance to modify it using the chaincode facility. They are represented using key-value pairs on the network. 

2. Chaincode 

On the Hyperledger Fabric network, chaincode acts as a business logic that can be used to define an asset or any other transactional modification. Chaincode optimizes network security by enforcing the rules to alter key-value pairs. Executing a chaincode can be done through the transitional proposal. While chaincode is similar to smart contracts, they are not entirely identical. 

3. Ledger 

It acts like a transcript for all transactions on the blockchain. It cannot be modified once transactions are updated on it. Ledger comes with an SQL query-like capacity. It can be accessed only by the participants on the access list. Ledger also ensures that the information box configuration has the same flow and structure. 

4. Identity 

We have already discussed the security details, and the permissions to access the framework are only given to specific participants. We have separate identity modules to identify these participants on the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain. Every enterprise has the option to allocate a separate identity to different participants and accordingly grant them access to the ledger. 

5. Confidentiality and Privacy 

The framework’s key feature is ultimate privacy and security for the transactions occurring on the ledger. The enterprise must modify the chaincode according to which participant gets access to various types of information. Every transaction does get recorded on the ledger, but who gets to see them is up to the enterprise. 

6. Security Protocols

On the Hyperledger Fabric framework, the users get a highly secure network of peer transactions. The information regarding every transaction is available for reading, but only the encrypted version. Since the high-end companies are the target audience, Hyperledger Fabric provides very high-security protocols in its chaincode with several safety features for the highest authority on the ledger. 

7. Consensus 

Under this framework, the end users also have the option to choose how their organization comes to a consensus as well. Currently, the consensus mechanism on Hyperledger Fabric works on the Kafka model, where the consensus is reached when every active participant in the network approves the transaction. You can also choose to allow the BFT model for the consensus. 

Benefits of Hyperledger Fabric 

1. Open Source 

As mentioned earlier as well, Hyperledger Fabric is an open-source blockchain framework that is currently being hosted by the Linux foundation. It currently has a large active developer community which is growing at a rapid pace. 

2. Suitable for wide-ranging industry 

Hyperledger Fabric is suitable for many industries because of its adjustable asset integration and the option to choose the chaincode for security purposes. Supply chain, IoT, Banking, Healthcare, Government, Media, etc. are some of the big industries this framework can be a part of and is even working in some. 

3. Quality Code 

Hyperledger Fabric is synonymous with quality. The framework runs all the transactions through crucial inspections before adding them to the ledger. The quality of chain codes and other transactional operations is also great since the open source framework allows continuous upgradation. 

4. Efficiency 

Every node on the framework takes up different work. The ledger network separates every transaction to be worked on by the nodes. Each node can also work on different parts of a transaction simultaneously to reduce time consumption. There are nodes in place for maintenance and upgradation as well. 

5. Modular Design 

One of the biggest benefits of Hyperledger Fabric blockchain is its modular design. The option to choose different algorithms for different purposes helps the end users in different ways. Encryption, consensus, and transaction processing can then occur through different algorithms. 

Criticism of Hyperledger Fabric 

1. Hyperledger Fabric’s Competitors 

A report in 2020 suggested that one of the competitors of Fabric, Corda, had been historically more developmental. Corda is another Hyperledger project along with Iroha, Indy, and Sawtooth. One of the critical things about Fabric is that even after having three times more developers on board, the contributions were half of what Corda developers made into the network. 

2. Hyperledger Fabric Is Not Blockchain and Is Not Efficient

“Fabric’s architecture is far more complex than any blockchain platform and less secure against tampering and attacks. You would think that a “private” blockchain would at least offer scalability and performance, but fabric fails here as well. Simply put, pilots built on fabric will face a complex and insecure deployment that won’t be able to scale with their businesses,” says Cointelegraph’s Stuart Popejoy while pointing out the inefficiencies in Hyperledger Fabric blockchain.