- Okay, hello, Cloud Gurus, Scott Pletcher here.
And welcome to another episode
of Cloud Provider Comparisons.
In this series, we take a look
at the same cloud services across different cloud providers.
We'll look at the similarities, the differences,
and anything else that might be interesting.
In this episode, we're gonna be digging
into what the cloud providers have to offer
in the way of blockchain.
For starters, I'm gonna explain just what blockchain is.
And if you already know all that stuff,
do feel free to skip ahead to the comparison part.
(upbeat music)
What comes to mind
when I say blockchain, bitcoin, cryptocurrency?
For many people, that's the context
in which they may have first heard the term,
but the concept of a blockchain really isn't new at all.
Back in 1982, David Chaum proposed
a blockchain-like process in his PhD dissertation
at the University of California, Berkeley.
Nearly a decade later,
researchers at Bellcore published a paper
on using a blockchain method
to guarantee document timestamps.
And they would go on to create a company called Surety,
but more on them later.
It wasn't until 2008 that a person or group of people,
calling themselves Satoshi Nakamoto,
created a blockchain concept
that would go on to power bitcoin.
So how exactly does a blockchain work?
Well, a block is some chunk of data.
It can be a financial transaction,
an invoice, a bill of lading,
most anything really that can be stored digitally.
Now, that block also includes something else,
a hash from the block added to the chain right before it.
What is a hash?
Think of it as a mathematically calculated fingerprint
that represents all the data in that block.
Now, since the block includes the fingerprint
of the prior block,
it's this chaining of hashes that gives the blockchain
its immutable properties.
If someone were to go back
and change a transaction in the chain,
that would change the hash of that block
and also all the subsequent hashes.
Remember that company Surety?
Every week since 1995,
they have been publishing the then current hash
of every electronic record they have ever sealed
in the Public Notices section of The New York Times.
And this taps into another strategy blockchains leverage,
that being widely-witnessed.
The more widely distributed a hash is,
the more difficult it would be for someone
to slyly change some block already in the chain.
This concept ensures integrity in public
and consortium blockchains
as all the participants have copies of the current hash.
Today, blockchains are used
in a wide variety of applications,
such as supply chain traceability,
real estate transactions, retail loyalty rewards programs,
and even digital voting.
(upbeat music)
So how do the cloud providers stack up
with regard to blockchain,
well, pretty differently.
As of this recording,
Google Cloud Platform does not offer
any blockchain services.
Of course, one could download and install
a blockchain platform on some VMs,
but you're still gonna have to manage it all.
Microsoft Azure exited the blockchain
as a service business in September 2021
by retiring their Azure Blockchain Service product.
Customers of that service are being directed to ConsenSys,
a third party that provides Quorum blockchain
as a service on the Azure Cloud.
Now, this doesn't mean
that Microsoft Azure is completely turning its back
on blockchain though.
Microsoft has integrated blockchain technology
into some new products that are currently in preview.
A new ledger feature
for the Azure SQL Database is built
upon blockchain technology,
enhancing record integrity and allowing customers
to prove records haven't been tampered with.
Similarly, Microsoft has also introduced
Azure Confidential Ledger for the same purpose.
Except with Confidential Ledger,
your data is stored as objects on your Azure storage account
rather than in a SQL database.
Of the clouds that we usually cover in this series,
AWS has by far the most comprehensive offering
for those looking to get on the blockchain train.
If you're looking for a turnkey blockchain option,
AWS offers Managed Blockchain.
With a click of a few buttons,
customers can launch a node
on the public Ethereum blockchain network.
Additionally, customers can also create
or join private Hyperledger Fabric networks
with just a few clicks as well.
These public nodes and private networks are fully managed
so you don't have to mess with any of the details,
you just pay by the hour.
AWS also offers Amazon Quantum Ledger Database.
This is a database geared towards application developers
who need to ensure absolute immutable data change tracking.
Now, despite the name,
I can find no real evidence
that it actually uses real quantums.
Anyway, QLDB, as it's called for short,
is comprised of two parts,
a portion that stores the current state information
and an append-only journal that tracks each change
to that current state database.
As it's really just a database,
developers and applications can interact with it using SQL
or the API.
The blockchain ledger portion is handled behind the scenes.
Now, if you're familiar with other databases,
you'll notice that this ledger sounds a lot
like transaction logs or journaling.
And that's because it's kind of the same thing.
The difference is that each entry
in that journal is cryptographically bonded
to the entry before it and after it.
And this makes it easy to verify and impossible to alter.
AWS has landed some well-known names
who use its blockchain products,
food producer, Nestle, Sony Music, the BMW Group,
and Workday are some of the familiar names
who have put AWS's blockchain products to work.
Now, additionally, AWS boasts
over 70 verified blockchain solutions on its AWS Marketplace
and claims to host at least 25% of all nodes
on the Ethereum network.
(upbeat music)
So is AWS the only blockchain
as a platform service game in town? Not at all.
IBM Cloud was one of the first significant cloud operators
to get into the hosted blockchain game.
And as a result, it has one of the most mature offerings.
IBM hosts blockchains for some mega corporations,
such as retailer, Walmart,
and shipping giant, Maersk.
Additionally, IBM has and continues
to contribute heavily to Hyperledger Fabric,
a very popular open-source blockchain framework
and the software behind their branded blockchain offerings.
Then there's Oracle.
The Oracle Blockchain Platform is an implementation
of Hyperledger Fabric with some extra features built into it
to make it work better with the Oracle Cloud.
They currently host blockchains in the fashion,
transport, health care, and financial services industries.
Now, both Oracle and IBM leverage
their large enterprise customer relationships
to promote their blockchain offerings,
not as the thing but just another tool in the toolbox
for their customers.
Now, beyond the big cloud providers, there are dozens
of cloud native startups out there looking to cash in
on blockchain through specific industry-focused solutions
or other unique value propositions.
But those efforts are beyond the scope of this series.
I will say, though,
that because the use cases for blockchains
are usually pretty long range in nature,
do be sure to consider carefully who you might partner with.
So that is the current scattered
and varied cloud landscape for blockchain.
According to Gartner's famed Hype Cycle, blockchain platform
as a service is currently drudging
through what Gartner calls the trough of disillusionment.
Meaning, all those elevated expectations
are being hashed out, no pun intended.
While the public clouds like Azure
and SAP Cloud may have stepped back from the platform
as a service options,
others are staying firm and continuing to invest.
Well, my friends,
this has been Cloud Provider Comparisons Blockchain Edition.
Thanks for sticking around, stay safe,
take care of one another.
And keep being awesome, Cloud Gurus.