From 72b422daa493ccb606eebb46c23442efa2d6e6ee Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Nick Gaski Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2017 17:37:28 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] why Fabric Horton comments addressed Levi comments addressed Fixed references to chain. chain -> channel starting new patch set, sorry Ferris comments addressed replaced dummy file [ci skip] Change-Id: I3c9ab9c60b0ff1f279b0927568f6caf965520ac4 Signed-off-by: Nick Gaski --- docs/whyfabric.md | 41 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 40 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/docs/whyfabric.md b/docs/whyfabric.md index 7fc16ac484d..4a93771ebc7 100644 --- a/docs/whyfabric.md +++ b/docs/whyfabric.md @@ -1 +1,40 @@ -coming soon ... +# Why Fabric? + +Hyperledger Fabric (hereafter referred to as Fabric) is a blockchain platform +designed to allow the exchange of an asset or the state of an asset to be consented +upon, maintained, and viewed by all parties in a permissioned group. A key characteristic +of Fabric is that the asset is defined digitally, with all participants simply agreeing +on its representation/characterization. As such, Fabric can support a broad range of +asset types; ranging from the tangible (real estate & hardware) to the intangible +(contracts and IP). + +The technology is based on a standard blockchain concept - a shared, replicated ledger. +However, Fabric is based on a permissioned network, meaning all participants are +required to be authenticated in order to participate and transact on +the blockchain. Moreover, these identities can be used to govern certain levels of +access control (e.g. this user can read the ledger, but cannot exchange or transfer assets). This +dependence on identity is a great advantage in that varying consensus algorithms (e.g. +BFT based or Kafka) can be implemented in place of the more compute-intensive Proof-of-Work and +Proof-of-Stake varieties. As a result, permissioned networks tend to provide higher +throughput and performance. + +Once an organization is granted access to the blockchain network, it then has the ability +to create and maintain a private channel with other specified members. For example, +let's assume there are four organizations trading jewels. They may decide to use +Fabric because they trust each other, but not to an unconditional extent. They can +all agree on the business logic for trading the jewels, and can all maintain a global +ledger to view the current state of their jewel market (call this the consortium channel). +Additionally, two or more of these organizations might decide to form an alternate +private blockchain for a certain exchange that they want to keep confidential +(e.g. price X for quantity Y of asset Z). They can perform this trade without affecting +their broader consortium channel, or, if desired, this private channel can broadcast some +level of reference data to their consortium channel. + +This is powerful! This provides for great flexibility and potent capabilities, along with +the interoperability of multiple blockchain ledgers within one consortium. This is the +first of its kind and allows organizations to curate Fabric to support the myriad use +cases for different businesses and industries. Hyperledger Fabric has already been +successfully implemented in the banking, finance, and retail industries. + +We welcome you to the Hyperledger Fabric community and are glad to hear your architectural +and business needs, and help determine how Fabric can be leveraged to support your use case.