Discussion (350 words - APA format) + 3 Questions

Professor MichaelG. Solomon

BLCN 631–BlockchainImplementation

EFD Chapter 12–Integrating Non-BlockchainApps with Ethereum

HybridApplications

• Some blockchain apps areblockchain only

• Most aren’t

• Goal: integrate legacy appsand blockchain

• Making a legacy app talk to asmart contract

• Sounds like a simple API call

• But wait … there’s more

ComparingBlockchainandDatabase

• Some define blockchain as adecentralized database

• This is just wrong
• Blockchain does store dataand is decentralized

• But there are lots ofdifferences

• Several prominent featuresdiffer

• Integrating differentarchitectures takes planning

Database vs Blockchain

Feature	Traditional Database	Blockchain
Control	One central database copy-centralized control	Each node stores a complete copy of theblockchain-decentralized control
Data format	Data schema defines data format	No schema-each smart contract decideshow to store its data
Data update	Create, Read, Update, Delete (CRUD)	Read and Append only
Performance	Optimized for short response time andhigh-throughput	Not optimized for performance
Confidentiality	Centrally managed permissions	No default confidentiality for pubicblockchains
Storage cost	Up-front infrastructure costs	Per-transaction costs
Integrity andtransparency	Dependent on DBMS and application	Consensus and immutability provide integrity
Resilience	Possible with substantial investment	Each node stores a complete copy of theblockchain

IntegrationDesignConsiderations

• Execution flow

• Smart contracts runs on every EVM

• Identity mapping

• Maintain identity across boundaries
• Level of mapping confidence

• Transaction scoping

• No undo in a blockchain
• Blockchain integration generally atend of DB trx

IntegrationApproach

• Identify

• Data requirements
• Transaction requirements
• Identity requirements

• Design integration software
• Write or modify smart contracts
• Test, test, test
• Deploy (and test more)

Summary

• Exploring differencesbetween blockchain anddatabases
• Identifying differencesbetween blockchain andtraditional applications
• Integrating traditionalapplications withEthereum
• Testing and deployingintegrated blockchainapps