Book Image

Mastering Blockchain - Fourth Edition

By : Imran Bashir
5 (3)
Book Image

Mastering Blockchain - Fourth Edition

5 (3)
By: Imran Bashir

Overview of this book

Blockchain is the backbone of cryptocurrencies, it has had a massive impact in many sectors, including finance, supply chains, healthcare, government, and media. It’s also being used for cutting edge technologies such as AI and IoT. This new edition is thoroughly revised to offer a practical approach to using Ethereum, Hyperledger, Fabric, and Corda with step-by-step tutorials and real-world use-cases to help you understand everything you need to know about blockchain development and implementation. With new chapters on Decentralized Finance and solving privacy, identity, and security issues, as well as bonus online content exploring alternative blockchains, this is an unmissable read for everyone who wants to gain a deep understanding of blockchain. The book doesn’t shy away from advanced topics and practical expertise, such as decentralized application (DApp) development using smart contracts and oracles, and emerging trends in the blockchain space. Throughout the book, you’ll explore blockchain solutions beyond cryptocurrencies, such as the IoT with blockchain, enterprise blockchains, and tokenization, and gain insight into the future scope of this fascinating and disruptive technology. By the end of this blockchain book, you will have gained a thorough comprehension of the various facets of blockchain and understand the potential of this technology in diverse real-world scenarios.
Table of Contents (24 chapters)
23
Index

Components of a private network

A private net allows the creation of an entirely new blockchain usually on a local network. This is different from testnet or mainnet in the sense that it uses its own genesis block and network ID. In order to create a private net, three components are needed:

  • Network ID
  • The genesis file
  • Data directory to store blockchain data

Even though the data directory does not strictly need to be mentioned, if there is more than one blockchain already active on the system, then the data directory should be specified so that a separate directory is used for the new blockchain.

On the mainnet, the Geth Ethereum client can discover boot nodes by default as they are hardcoded in the Geth client, and connects automatically, but on a private network, Geth needs to be configured by specifying appropriate flags and configurations in order for it to discover, or be discoverable by, other peers. We will see how this is achieved shortly.

In addition to the previously mentioned...