Amazon Managed Blockchain ?
Amazon Managed Blockchain is a BaaS that can build and manage a fully managed and scalable blockchain network on AWS. As of January 16, 2020, only "Hyperledger Fabric (v1.2)" is supported (the latest version v1.4.4 as of January 2020 is not supported).
In addition, Ethereum will be supported in the future (it is considered Enterprise Ethereum, but details are unknown).
Fully managed service
Since Amazon Managed Blockchain is a fully managed service, there is no need to consider the infrastructure during development, and the following management costs required when building a blockchain network are cut.
Hardware (node) provisioning
Software installation
Issuance and management of certificates for access control
Configuring networking components
Infrastructure monitoring
Managing network members
As fully managed BaaS, there are "Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service" and "IBM Blockchain Platform" in addition to Amazon Managed Blockchain.
Amazon Quantum Ledger Database (QLDB) for improved transparency and auditability
Amazon Managed Blockchain can use the "Amazon Quantum Ledger Database", a database dedicated to ledger management, to log blockchain applications in an auditable manner. It provides an immutable, cryptographically verifiable history of all changes to application data.
Note that Amazon QLDB is not a blockchain (distributed ledger technology). The database owner is the only entity that uses the service. Amazon QLDB is similar to Amazon Managed Blockchain in that it is tamper resistant and verifiable, but if decentralized or unreliable participants are required, use Amazon Managed Blockchain which supports blockchain Will be.
By using the AWS Key Management Service (KMS), a fully managed encryption key management service, it is possible to manage and protect Hyperledger Fabric certification authorities.
Build process with Amazon Managed Blockchain
We will briefly introduce the process of building a blockchain network using Amazon Managed Blockchain. First, you need the following resources:
AWS account
Linux client (EC2 instance)
VPC
Create interface VPC endpoint
EC2 security group that allows communication on required ports
Prerequisites and Considerations
The flow of network construction is as follows.
Create network and first member
Create an endpoint
Set up the client
Register a member manager
Create a peer node
Create a channel
Execute chaincode
Invite members to create a collaborative channel
For a detailed description of each step, see the following documents.
Get Started Creating a Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Network Using Amazon Managed Blockchain
The basic components of Hyperledger Fabric built on Amazon Managed Blockchain are as follows. Members of the Fabric network are equivalent to AWS account holders.
Amazon Managed Blockchain pricing
There is no initial fee for using Amazon Managed Blockchain. With the currently available Hyperledger Fabric, there is an hourly usage fee for network membership, peer nodes and peer node storage.
Amazon Managed Blockchain Use Cases
Amazon Managed Blockchain is already being used in blockchain projects involving major players. Users include the following projects and companies:
Huge consortium of automotive industry " MOBI "
The world's largest securities custody transfer organization `` DTCC ''
Nestlé, the world's largest food and beverage company
Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX)
A common need among projects and companies is that they want to concentrate on building applications while enjoying the benefits of blockchain auditability and transparency. Because it is fully managed, the cost of managing infrastructure is reduced.
Conclusion: Fully managed BaaS for AWS users and users who want to try blockchain
As of January 2020, the only blockchain supported by Amazon Managed Blockchain is Hyperledger Fabric (v1.2). It can be said that it is BaaS. Furthermore, those who regularly use AWS can build a blockchain network with relatively low learning costs.
The details are explained in the following articles, but if you want to consider the minimum unit price and performance, and if you are running a small project, Amazon Managed Blockchain is recommended. Please also check the comparison with other BaaS.