Mini Crypto Program Part 3 || "Understanding of Blockchain", by @steemtopus, 10% to steem.education

Assalmu alaykum @liasteem. I am ecxcited to participate in your mini crypto program again. I have learnt a lot about blockchain technology and i am going to give efforts to this assignment. Thank you for the opportunity.

What do you know about blockchain?

Blockchain is a chain of connected blocks which carry stored and recorded date and information. This data and information are distributed across a network. The data stored in this block can not be altered or changed. This is due to the fact that it operates with several nodes that are connected to sharing the same information. Blockchain technology is decentralized and it can be acessed by anyone but no one can really alter the data on any block when saved. Every block saved is connected to a previous one to establish a chain and therefore called blockchain. Blockchain is like a legder, it stores digital assets. Blockchain has it transactions safe, secure and transparent so prevent fradulent and illegal practices.
The blockchain is formed by three important features.

source

BLOCK

A block is like a container shaped and it contains recorded and encrypted information. Block is a digital file where saved data are recorded and these becomes permanent. A recorded date can not be removed or erased. A copy of the block is distributed among all the nodes on the network which will also be used to connect a new block and form a chain of blocks called blockchain. Each block created has three important features which includes the data recorded within the block, a Nonce which is a 32-bit number generated when you have your block created and a Hash, a 256-bit format used to indicate whether a block is valid or not. All the blocked in a blockchain are linked and the links are called chain. This chain is the hash which connects all the blocks and encrypts data within them.

Sources

NODES

Nodes are devices connected to the blockchain network. Nodes are connected to the computers that are responsible for creating, mining and validating blocks. Nodes helps to maintain and run the blockchain smoothly. Whenever a new block is created, every node recieves a copy of the newly added block and data.

Source

MINERS

Miners create new blocks on the blockchain network. Using a very powerful devices and special softwares, they compute complex calculations to validate blocks and earn rewards for mining a block.

Source

Describe one type of blockchain!

Types of blockchains

• Public blockdchain
• Private blockchain
• Consortium blockchain
• Hybrid blockchain.

Hybrid blockchain

The combination of the public and private blockchain features is what the Hybrid blockchain is. It can be said that the public blockchain merged with the private blockchain forms the hybrid blockchain. The private blockchain is used to set up permisions and for levels assessment while it allows the public blockchain nodes to access the information they want them to. All datas on the blockchain are not public on the hybrid blockchain. Unlike the private blockchain, identity of the users are not revealed unless they engage in transactions with other users. Hybrid blockchain protects the identities of its users.

Source

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the type of blockchain you

Advantages of Hybrid Blockchain

• Fast Transaction

Since the this is your friend commercial Ocean blockchain is not congested and it has a limited number of nodes, its transaction is much faster than public blockchain

• Security

Once data is stored on a block, it can not be changed or altered. Hybrid blockchain has this feature which deem it very secure.

• Less maintenance cost.

Hybrid blockchain is easy to maintained when compared to public blockchain because it consumes very less computatuion power as its network is limited and restricted.

Disadvantes of hybrid blockchain

• Not fully decentralized.

The only disadvantage known with hybrid blockchain is the fact that it is not fully decentralized. It is not fully decentralized in the sense that transactions can only be processed and verified through Private Blockchain.

Visit Blockchain Demo, and what did you learn from that page? (screenshot required)

After opening the website, there are different menu inter alia.

Clicking on the blockchain menu, there are 5 blocks numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Each block has Nonce, Prev and Hash. These blocks are linked to each other by adding hash numbers of previous block in in Prev. Hence, they are linked to one another.

In the screenshots above, it is clear that the hash number of block 1 is shown in Prev of block 2, similarly, that of block 2 is shown in prev of block 4 and so on. Prev of block 1 consists of all zero because it id the first block and there is no previous block before it. It is called the "Genesis Block"

To do some practicals, i am going to input "liasteem" into the data tab. The result is shown below

It shows the red colour, which means invalid. To make this valid, you only need to press theine option. Everything becomes green as you press mine for each block. The hash begins to have numbers starting with 0000 in thrm. This is shown below

For the hash menu;

It can be seen that the Hash on the initial display will be empty and with Hash no e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855

I will trying input a word in the empty data box and see what happens to the hash number

I have inserted liasteem and you can see that it changed from the initial hash number. This show that there are peculiar hash numbers to every data you are inputing

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using blockchain technology!

Advantages/Benefits of Blockchain Technology

The blockchain has been beneficial as soon as its invention by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. He created Bitcoin to provide a public transaction ledger. Since then, many organization started to use it because of the benefits it encompasses. Some of these benefits are:

• Decentralized structure

Blockchains are created in such a way to remove a central authority preventing an individual or group from controlling the activities of the network. There is an absolute transparency on the blockchain which helps to create trust and activities are peer to peer without any facilitator. Although the users are anonymous, there is a willing to share date and engage about activities. There is distribution an ubdate of the block datas and transactions details to all the nodes connected to the blockchain.

• Immutability

Since the data recorded on the blocks on the blockchain cannot be altered or deleted, the time stamp for all the transactions is permanently recorded. Forking could be done on the blockchain whereby changes are being made to the blockchain. This is done where there is a breach in the security to reverse transactions and this is done only when participants of the blockchain comes into agreement to fork the blockchain.

• Data availability

The data stored on the blockchain network does’nt restrict or limit access to any particpant. There is a free acess to the data anytime. There is also a free access to the source book

• Trust

Blockchain has developed trust where it is lacking. Transaction between two entities are completed within a short period of time. Once a transaction is completed it cannot be altered or chaged. The availability of data at any time also creates trust between the parties of the transaction.

• Reduced costs

Due to the fact that there is no intermediaries involved in transactions, the transaction fee is relatively low compared to other system. The elimination of the third party system helps to reduce the cost of the transactions.

• Speed

Transactions are very fast in blockchain network and transactions are completed in a very short period of time and it can be carried out anywhere in the world. Sometimes, transactions are carried out in seconds. As compared to conventional systemsc, blockchain transaction speed is much faster than conventional system.

Limitation or disdvantages of using blockchain technology

Despite having a lot of benefits, the blockchain technology also has some limitations.
These are some below

• Scalability

As more nodes connected to the blockchain network, blockchains have lower scalability which slows down operations and increases the cost of mining and transactions

• Cost of mining

Minig on blockchains requires a very high computational power. The uses of specialised computers such as ASICs are used. These devices consumes a lot of energy to perform these mining activities.

• Immutabily

Immutability as mentioned in the benefits prevents alterations and makes blockchain secure but it is a double-edged sword. In a case where a mistake is made in a transaction. There will be absolutely nothing to do to correct it.

• Adaptability

The blockchain network isnt adapted everywhere. It is seen as a threat by some government. It also has issues about the usages and legality in some country when it especially deals with cryptocurrencies.

Conclusion!

Blockchain has a lot of benefits which has helped in shaping the World. Being decentralized prevents one party controlling another. The blockchain is aceessible to anyone and anywhere at anytime. It solves problems even without the use of intermediaries. The absemce of intermediaries makes a faster process. It is trustable and offers a secured network free from fraudulent acts and ensures transparency to everyone on the network.

Some country have accepted and adopted the use of Cryptos and some even created theirs. Although there are some limitations to thr use of blockchains, developers are working so hard to create solutions and make it a suitable one.
Blockchain will serve as the future. Thanks for the opportunity to participate in this mini Crypto program. I have really learnt a lot doing this task
I am inviting @hazmat, @pricelesspresh, @samsteem1000

My name is Akanbi-Muhammad Saheed, a 300 level student of University of Ilorin. For the past few months now I've been learning about crypto, getting to know valuable people on steemit, creating contents, supporting and helping this community to grow bigger. It is my ultimate plan to build a solid reach and engagement on Steemit.