As we approach the launch of MainNet Fuji. We wanted to take the opportunity to outline the role of decentralized storage providers that run the Züs (formerly 0Chain) Network.
Fuji and Kilimanjaro
the first phase of our MainNet launch will be Fuji which will be followed by Kilimanjaro, which will further upgrade the network to incorporate View Change
Fuji
We will soon commence the application process for service providers. This includes KYC the application is to run as decentralized storage providers on the network. Stay tuned for more details on how to apply.
Upon the initial launch of Fuji, we will launch the network with a controlled group of decentralized storage providers. During this time frame, these service providers will be responsible for the various tasks of Miners, Sharders, and Blobbers on Züs’ network. During this time, Blobbers may openly join the network at any time to store data. As Miners & Sharders will offer an initial level of blobber capacity, dependent on the adoption rate, it may take some time before more blobbers are needed to scale to meet storage demands.
With the simultaneous launch of Vult and Bolt, the demand for data storage may rapidly increase, and therefore, we have planned for additional blobbers to be able to join with ease.
Kilimanjaro
Upon our transition to Kilimanjaro, our View Change protocol will be implemented into the network. During this time, new miners and sharders can be added to the active set, thus furthering the decentralized nature of the network. Similar to our Fuji launch, blobbers will be welcome to join the network at any time.
View Change
View change is a bidding process for miners and sharders to join the active set and replace the lowest stakeholders. The selection process is based on squared staking to protect against Sybil miners. A miner staking 2 tokens has a 4 times higher chance of getting chosen compared to a miner staking 1 token in 4 different miners. Miners and sharders need to stake enough tokens to be selected at each View Change event, which occurs every n rounds. We anticipate that only 5–10% of the miners and sharders get shuffled out every view change.
As we approach Kilimanjaro, we will take a look inside the view change protocol. If you’re interested in learning more about View Change, check out our white paper.
Miners, Sharders & Blobbers
Züs’ network consists of various entities that act as decentralized storage providers to perform certain tasks that are critical to the Storage Protocol. Miners, sharders, and blobbers each perform a different task and thus are rewarded individually. By separating the task of mining from blobbers, the load on the mining network is lightened, enabling fast transactions on the blockchain. Do you have questions about being a service provider? Head over to the 0Chain Forum for more info, resources, and FAQs. In the meantime, let’s take a look at each:
Blobbers:
the computers providing data storage. Blobbers provide services to Züs clients via the storage of data and writing/reading data in exchange for tokens. Each of these services is rewarded with a separate mechanism. A price (in terms of tokens/GB) is established per read and write of data, known as the write rate and read rate, respectively. Blobbers are paid immediately for reading data. To be rewarded for writes, blobbers must successfully respond to challenges, issued by the blockchain, and their challenge response verified by validators.
There is also a component of challenge completion time (CCT) which is used to differentiate blobber services. For example, data center-based blobbers with good infrastructure and bandwidth are likely to deliver better CCT than others. It is important to note that Blobbers are paid interest for their stake by the network. The reward tokens are directly from the clients. And if Blobbers get slashed for not passing challenges, then a portion of their stake tokens go back to the client. Validators, the entities that issue challenges to blobbers, receive a portion of Blobber fees regardless of whether blobbers pass challenges.
Miners
The entities that generate challenges to blobbers and validate a client’s data are truly being stored.
A miner is rewarded for each generated block by the network at the rate of 0.7 tokens per block. They also receive fees for all transactions in the block. The block reward will decrease during subsequent epochs. A portion of the total rewards and fees go to the sharders that have stored the previous block.
Sharders
the entities that are responsible for breaking apart blockchain data into chunks and retrieving them (sharding).
As only one block gets finalized at any time, only one miner gets paid, along with the sharders of the previous finalized block.
Züs is a high-performance storage platform that powers limitless applications. It’s a new way to earn passive income from storage.
