Introduction

Hello guys,
Since these very program started I have really learnt a whole lot from the different professors. Sincerely this very program has help me to widen my horizon on blockchain and crypto currency through the lectures delivered by the various professors and my very own little research in carrying out the assignment task. Having attended the lecture delivered by our very own dear professor in the person of @alphafx, on the topic ''Consensus Algorithms", I am happy to present my homework task here, this is to prove or indicate my level of understanding concerning the class held by the professor. Please read through as you can learn a bit and also contribute to what I have written so far.

Assignment
Write on any of these consensus algorithms extensively.

• Stellar Consensus Protocol
• Proof of Capacity
• Proof of Burn
• Proof of Elapsed Time

For the sake of this assignment I will be focusing or discussing on Proof of Capacity. But before I proceed, let's have a recap of what consensus algorithm is all about.

The major aim of consensus algorithm is reliability and also to establish trust between unknown peers in the distributed computing environment for easy transactions in the blockchain. In a more simpler term, we can say that a consensus algorithm is a method or a way by which the entire peers that are present in the blockchain network come to an agreement concerning the present state of the distributed ledger.

Now what is blockchain? Blockchain can be seen as a distributed decentralized (meaning the control is not vested in the hands of an individual or company as in the case of centralized) network that provide transparency, security etc. With the help of consensus protocol, which happens to be one of the major part of block chain technology, the block chain is considered to be totally secured and all privacy are kept intact.
The efficiency of consensus protocol can be determined mainly by this three (3) features

• Security:- A consensus principle is said to be safe if all the node offer same output and the output are valid as per the rule given.
• Realtime value:- A consensus protocol ensures realtime liveness, if all correct node participating in consensus evaluation produce a value.
• Fault tolerance:- A consensus protocol offers fault tolerance if it can recover from a failure of node participating in consensus.

Source

Proof of Capacity

An overview

Unlike other consensus algorithm mechanism, where expensive hardware or burning coins are invested, in this place your hard disk space is what is been invested. Now in this mechanism, the more your hard disk space the more chances you have to mine in the next block and earn the reward of the block. It is important to mention here that before you start mining in Proof of Capacity written in short as PoC, the algorithm used has to generate a large number of data set for you which will be stored on the hard disk, this large data set is known as PLOTS. This plots serves as a tool to speed up your search for the next block. This means that the more plots you have, the more chances you have to locate the next block. Using this type of mechanism requires one to spend a whole lot on the hard drive space. One of the crypto currency to use Proof of Capacity (Poc) is Burstcoin

What is Proof of Capacity?

Proof-of-Capacity PoC can simply be define as the a consensus algorithm mechanism that allow miners to PLOT their hard disk in other to participate in the transaction verification.

How Does Proof of Capacity Work?

PoC has two major components that makes it up I.e plotting the hard drive and mining on the hard drive. To get started with PoC, you have to plot, meaning you have to create your own unique file.

Plotting the Hard Drive:-
When ever you plot you hard drive, you are producing what is known as nonces. It is important to mention here that each nonces contain 8,192 hashes that are bounded together in pairs and these is called scoops.

Mining on the Hard Drive:-
During the processing of plotting the hard drive, few calculations will be done. In this calculations, the result of scoop will also be computed an the number will lie between 0 and 4,095. This result from scoop and that of nonce will be used to calculate what is known as deadline. Deadline is the amount of time that will elapse since the last block was created until the time you can produce a new block.

Advantages of Proof of Capacity Mining

Due to the limitation of other consensus algorithm that lead to the invention or development of Proof of Capacity algorithm, below are few of the advantages.

• Any hard drive can be used in PoC
• More energy efficient when compared to ASIC-based mining
• Upgrading of hardware is unimportant here
• Drive can always be reused when previous day is wiped out.

Disadvantages of Proof of Capacity Mining

• Malaware can easily affect mining activities
• Adoptivity of the system is yet to be accepted by many developers
• Higher capacity hard drive is a major challenge since most people wants a big hard drive space.

Conclusion

In conclusion, My appreciation goes to the crypto professor in the person of @alphafx for such a wonderful lecture. I have really learnt a whole lot from this class and from the little research I have made at the course of carrying out my assignment. I hope to learn from you again much sooner.

Cc:
@alphafx

Thanks for your time...