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What Are The Main Categories Of Distributed Ledger Technology?

What Are The Main Categories Of Distributed Ledger Technology?

The Release Of Bitcoin Digital Currency Based On Block Chain Technology Made The Mentioned Technology Suddenly Attract The Attention Of The Media. 

Today, blockchain applications are not limited to decentralized finance and have entered other areas such as supply chain management.

However, the vital thing to note is that blockchain is one of the technologies developed based on a distributed ledger.

What is a distributed ledger?

Distributed ledger or, more precisely, Distributed Ledger Technology is a collection of digital, shared, and synchronized data geographically located in different locations. The said technology has no central administrator or single place for data storage.

Distributed ledgers are maintained and updated databases based on the understanding mechanism and data architecture accepted by network participants.

A peer-to-peer network with a consensus algorithm is required to ensure all nodes have access to information.

One form of distributed ledger is the blockchain system, which can be public or private, but not all distributed ledgers necessarily use a chain of blocks.

1. Blockchain 

Blockchain is one of the most famous and famous technologies that is based on Distributed Ledger Technology. As we mentioned, the distributed ledger is a kind of digital database that is updated and maintained by each network member independently in an ample space.

The distributed ledger in the blockchain does not contain any central authority to publish records to members, and all members maintain the information.

More precisely, in the blockchain, distributed ledger transaction records are kept by members in a chain of blocks. Think of the above chain as a long list, each line containing information related to transactions.

Nodes under the network are active in keeping and updating the information.

For the information in this blockchain to be reliable and valid, all users have access to transaction information and reach consensus through defined standard protocols.

In the said process, users agree on adding standard information to the network; thus, the ledger remains unified. Here, digital information forms the blocks.

Suppose someone has made a transaction. The transaction block contains the time, date, and amount that the sender sent. In addition, the partnership includes the sender’s information; the technology does not use the actual name and instead uses the person’s unique digital signature.

Each block has a unique identifier known as a hash to distinguish or synchronize transactions. This hash function is used to differentiate all transaction blocks in the ledger. The hash function has two essential features, and the first is that it includes

numeric characters, and the second is that each hash function is unique and random. More precisely, no user can predict it or somehow hack it and take it.

How does the blockchain work?

Blockchain hosts many blocks that are added to the ledger system, but how does the above process happen? There are four steps to adding blocks to the blockchain, which are as follows:

  1. First, someone on the network must make a transaction. For example, let’s say you want to send some money to your friend. 
  2. Once you have completed the transaction, it must be confirmed. There are different ways to establish a trade by the blockchain, but generally, the confirmation process depends more on the nodes of that network. Nodes must agree that the transaction is genuine and not fake. 
  3. Nodes check if the transaction is the way you declared it. The network lets most nodes reach a consensus that your transaction is legitimate. In this case, your transaction is stored in a block.
  4. After the transaction receives the green light, all information related to that transaction, including the date, amount, your digital signature, and the digital signature of the person who is going to be the recipient, is stored in the same block. Next, the amount you set will be deducted from your wallet and added to your friend’s wallet. As soon as this process is done and confirmed, your friend can see the received amount. 

Of course, before a block is included in the ledger for this transaction, the block receives a unique identifier. This ID is an identification code for that particular transaction. The block contains a hash value to maintain the structure of the blockchain. After your transaction is added to the ledger, you can view it, and depending on the network’s characteristics; other members can also view the transaction. However, this is not true in all networks.

If these distributed ledgers are public, everyone on the network can view them. Still, if they are private, viewing transaction details will depend on the rules of the distributed ledger system.

2. Hashgraph

In Hashgraph, multiple transactions can be stored on the ledger in the same timestamp. In this case, all transactions are stored in a parallel structure. Here, each record in the catalog is called an event.

The distributed ledger is provided to the nodes equally, so no node in the network will be able to manipulate information or transactions. It means that no user in a network based on a distributed ledger cannot change all the policies and instructions to be implemented on the web and delay or control the execution of transactions.

If we compare it with the blockchain, we see how in the blockchain, a miner can choose which transaction to include in the block. For example, you and your friend have both made a transaction and are now waiting for confirmation.

Other nodes in the network can selectively confirm your friend’s transaction first, even if you have made a transaction slightly earlier than your friend. In a hashgraph, validator nodes must approve or reject both transactions as you did.

Hence, in this distributed ledger without blockchain, the faster you have a connection, the better you can use the service. This way, you can make transactions quicker and be in the first line for approval.

Smaller storage units

In this type of distributed ledger implementation, all transactions on the network are provable. When a transaction is made on the web, all active nodes on the network know where that transaction will be in the ledger within a few minutes. In addition, everyone in the network knows that the entire network knows about the existence of the trade and therefore makes changes accordingly.

It means that the nodes commit the changes and then discard the transaction. In this case, you will not have to keep this information in your office forever. Because of this, it only needs a few gigabytes of storage space to store all the knowledge of the Hashgraph distributed ledger database platform.

Byzantium and the acidic nature of the grid

The Byzantine concept is one of the basic features of the hashgraph distributed ledger implementation. Byzantium is a system where no small group or entity can influence the path to consensus. Also, after reaching an agreement, no user will be able to make a change in this field. Each member knows that a consensus has been reached and will remain so. Each network node agrees on how to conduct a transaction in this blockchain-free distributed ledger.

All members in a distributed ledger will have a distributed database system that shares the same characteristics. If we compare the spread ledger with the blockchain, we will find that in the blockchain, the network member nodes will never be sure that the agreement has been reached. However, it is possible in Hashgraph.

Therefore, the mentioned technology is compatible with the acidic concept of the ACID network, namely atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability. How hashgraph works is another interesting topic in this field?

This distributed ledger system uses a Gossip protocol to transfer all information, mainly about network-wide transactions. Each network node can send information known as “events” that are pre-signed in a new trade. Each node randomly selects a neighboring node to transmit this information. Then, a node aggregates the event with other received data and sends it to neighboring nodes.

With the help of the “virtual voting” protocol, each node approves the transaction and is added to the ledger. Therefore, when a transaction is done, the neighboring nodes share that information with other nodes, and after a while, all the nodes are informed about the transaction. The process is speedy, so it only takes a few minutes for everyone on the network to be notified of the event.

DAY 3

Another technology based on a distributed ledger without a blockchain is the Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). DAG was invented as an alternative approach to Blockchain DLT. However, DAG is an alternative; the structure of this ledger is different. One of the main benefits of implementing a DAG distributed ledger is the ability to perform small, cost-free transactions aimed at network growth and scalability. That’s why this blockchain-free distributed ledger offers all the features of blockchain in a more advanced form.

In simpler terms, the more transactions are made in the network, the faster the handling process will be. To clarify the discussion, let’s see how DAG works.

How does a DAG work?

DAG uses a unique approach to reach a consensus. A distributed ledger system stores the transaction processes in nodes. Each member in the network is called a “node,” just like in the blockchain. All nodes in the network confirm the transactions in the ledger

and can view These secured transactions. Any node can initiate trades; however, for them to be valid, they must ensure at least two previous transactions in the ledger. After he confirms the transactions, his transaction is approved.

The more validation a person performs, the more value their transactions have in the distributed ledger database they find; In other words, they will have the most weight in the ledger. In DAG architecture, an algorithm randomly selects two previous transactions for each member to validate, if this process is not done randomly, members will only validate their transactions, and other members will remain in the waiting queue.

It is a new form of consensus to achieve greater scalability. According to the explanation provided, companies that perform many transactions per second should use the DAG distributed ledger

4. Holochian

Another distributed ledger without a blockchain has been in the spotlight for some time. Holochain, the company that created this new form of distributed ledger, refers developers to a new way to build decentralized applications. Holochian DLT is one of the most advanced ledger levels.

Holochain has a significant change from other non-blockchain distributed ledgers; This office is agent-centric instead of data-centric. This network does not use the global consensus protocol and only handles changes and scalability issues and keeps it intact even after the web grows.

How is this distributed ledger technology different from similar examples?

In traditional methods, all network nodes must reach a global consensus and confirm the entire network. However, Holochain changes this mechanism. It is not harmful to know that the name of this technology is adapted from the architecture on which it works, i.e., hologram. In a hologram, if you want to create a 3D pattern, you need certain light rays, and you have to work with them to create an image. Holochain has similar functionality and uses separate modules to build the ledledgerHere, and each node maintains its own distributed ledledgerd and communicates with it through its unique signature. To clarify the discussion, imagine the entire network as a river flowing along a path. Each node flows into the river of offices through its small streams, creating the river as a whole entity. If one of the streams goes offline, the distributed ledger database will not be affected.

How does it work?

It’s simple, and each node has its ledledgerhich itself, that works based on a concept called DNA. DNA ensures that every node in the network that intends to add new information to the public ledledgerst be approved. Nodes send data to each other to be verified. If other nodes in the network can verify their information with DNA, they will inform other nodes.

However, if someone tries to hack the network and store false data on the web, they will be quickly identified because they will have different DNA. Hence, if someone tries to forge a transaction, they will be disconnected from the chain, as the network nodes will evaluate the information against their DNA before confirming the transaction.

In this case, as soon as they find differences, they reject that transaction and send a message on the network, warning others that the node’s operation is suspicious and malicious. The process is entirely transparent and error-free, which is why it has become so popular in the tech world.

5. Tempo (RADIX)

Tempo, also called RADIX, is like other distributed ledgers without a blockchain and maintains the sequence of information in the ledledgerowever, it also uses a timestamp. Radix DLT is the creator of this new technology.

You can use this blockchain-free distributed ledledger for both private and public applications. One of the positive points of the above technology is that it does not require heavy hardware. It is light and can work on mobile phones without problems. With Tempo, you can create your decentralized applications, tokens, and coins and make transactions in a shorter time.

  •  It would help if you had a cluster of network nodes.
  •  The ledledger is distributed among a group of nodes. A distributed ledger database operates on the following three main principles:
  •  Use unique algorithms to timestamp events in the ledledgerEach instance in the distributed ledger database is called a “Universe,” and each event is called an “Atom.”

How does TEMPO DLT work?

The performance of this distributed ledger database is different from similar examples. Any node can choose to carry a subset of the global ledledgerth it. A subset of the ledledger calls ed a shard, and each node having a fragment receives a unique identifier for its subset from the ledledgerWhen a node wants to confirm transactions, it uses logical clocks to do so. A typically distributed ledger database timestamp alone is not capable of achieving consensus.

Hence, nodes check the previous state instead of temporal matching. For example, if the last transaction was A and transaction B has occurred, the nodes correspond to whether transaction A existed before B. Therefore, the nodes record the event’s sequence instead of the event’s actual time. Such features have made Tempo’s distributed ledledgertract the attention of companies and users.