github.com/kchristidis/fabric@v1.0.4-0.20171028114726-837acd08cde1/docs/source/capabilities.rst (about)

     1  Hyperledger Fabric Capabilities
     2  ===============================
     3  
     4  Hyperledger Fabric is a unique implementation of distributed ledger technology
     5  (DLT) that delivers enterprise-ready network security, scalability,
     6  confidentiality and performance, in a modular blockchain architecture.
     7  Hyperledger Fabric delivers the following blockchain network capabilities:
     8  
     9  Identity management
    10  -------------------
    11  
    12  To enable permissioned networks, Hyperledger Fabric provides a membership
    13  identity service that manages user IDs and authenticates all participants on
    14  the network. Access control lists can be used to provide additional layers of
    15  permission through authorization of specific network operations. For example, a
    16  specific user ID could be permitted to invoke a chaincode application, but
    17  blocked from deploying new chaincode. One truism about Hyperledger Fabric
    18  networks is that members know each other (identity), but they do not know what
    19  each other are doing (privacy and confidentiality).
    20  
    21  Privacy and confidentiality
    22  ---------------------------
    23  
    24  Hyperledger Fabric enables competing business interests, and any groups that
    25  require private, confidential transactions, to coexist on the same permissioned
    26  network. Private **channels** are restricted messaging paths that can be used
    27  to provide transaction privacy and confidentiality for specific subsets of
    28  network members. All data, including transaction, member and channel
    29  information, on a channel are invisible and inaccessible to any network members
    30  not explicitly granted access to that channel.
    31  
    32  Efficient processing
    33  --------------------
    34  
    35  Hyperledger Fabric assigns network roles by node type. To provide concurrency
    36  and parallelism to the network, transaction execution is separated from
    37  transaction ordering and commitment. Executing transactions prior to
    38  ordering them enables each peer node to process multiple transactions
    39  simultaneously. This concurrent execution increases processing efficiency on
    40  each peer and accelerates delivery of transactions to the ordering service.
    41  
    42  In addition to enabling parallel processing, the division of labor unburdens
    43  ordering nodes from the demands of transaction execution and ledger
    44  maintenance, while peer nodes are freed from ordering (consensus) workloads.
    45  This bifurcation of roles also limits the processing required for authorization
    46  and authentication; all peer nodes do not have to trust all ordering nodes, and
    47  vice versa, so processes on one can run independently of verification by the
    48  other.
    49  
    50  Chaincode functionality
    51  -----------------------
    52  
    53  Chaincode applications encode logic that is
    54  invoked by specific types of transactions on the channel. Chaincode that
    55  defines parameters for a change of asset ownership, for example, ensures that
    56  all transactions that transfer ownership are subject to the same rules and
    57  requirements. **System chaincode** is distinguished as chaincode that defines
    58  operating parameters for the entire channel. Lifecycle and configuration system
    59  chaincode defines the rules for the channel; endorsement and validation system
    60  chaincode defines the requirements for endorsing and validating transactions.
    61  
    62  Modular design
    63  --------------
    64  
    65  Hyperledger Fabric implements a modular architecture to
    66  provide functional choice to network designers. Specific algorithms for
    67  identity, ordering (consensus) and encryption, for example, can be plugged in
    68  to any Hyperledger Fabric network. The result is a universal blockchain
    69  architecture that any industry or public domain can adopt, with the assurance
    70  that its networks will be interoperable across market, regulatory and
    71  geographic boundaries. By contrast, current alternatives to Hyperledger Fabric
    72  are largely partisan, constrained and industry-specific.
    73  
    74  .. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
    75     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/