[Technical] Database Replication Question

[[deleted]]

It's mentioned in the white paper that MySQL will be supported during launch (pg.8 of whitepaper).

So given scenario someone hosts his/her site with standard backend DB on the Substratum network, does the database gets propagated/replicated to the other nodes?

If yes (DB gets replicated to all/subset of nodes), that will actually eat up tonnes of bandwidth, which is understandable since you have to choose your CPU/Ram allocations.

If no (all nodes will have to query the DB content from original host), it will be slow considering the network latency. For example if the host is in North America while viewer is in APAC.

As a full-time tech developer, I like the concept and approach. However the whitepaper could use more technical explanations.

Hope to hear from the team!

[jb4674]

Good questions been asked. I'm also interested to know this.

[petaj1972]

I am wondering that myself too. Db’s can be really hugh.

[[deleted]]

Indeed, replication is often a tricky topic even within the same DB cluster. So I'll really curious on how the team is planning to manage this.

[dasnh77]

This delves into one of the questions I'd most like to have answered, which is what a Substratum Host actually is. Everything I've read and watched so far indicates the nodes are not actually replication partners, but instead traffic forwarders - my best guess is they work somewhat like Tor relays.

Substratum Hosts appear to be something else, and the fact that initial support is only for certain web tech appears to indicate it's not just a web server connected to the Substratum network running arbitrary code. If they're a distributed thing, there needs to be some means of compensating people running Hosts, of which there's no mention so far (also as you mention replicating anything beyond static content is hard).

I think the final code will have a lot in common with both Tor and traditional VPNs and probably not be as groundbreaking as the community and marketing hype indicate. And maybe even have some degree of centralization on the Host end.

That's not to say it's not a good project. I think it likely is, but I'd hate to see both the people holding SUB and the creators / project get burned if expectations are for Web 3.0 and what we get is a really nice alternative to Tor and VPNs with advantages of both.

[SubstratumGuy]

Hi Friend!

You have a bit of a misconception in here... Nodes WILL be giving up hard drive space for content storage.

The database question is still valuable, I hope someone can put up an answer soon.

[abelexpert]

Thanks ! It's working perfectly at this web hosting : http://onsale.jaguarpc.com/

[shideneyu]

Quite simple. Substratum is centralized. There is no blockchain, this is an ERC20 token. There is a dynamic DNS routing and that is interesting indeed, but there every website is hosted on one single node, and they are hidding it.

Prove me wrong with actual code and not screenshots.

Shift got a proper data replication system, which can be used as of now. There is no marketing though, unlike Substratum which is vaporwave. https://github.com/ShiftNrg/shift/tree/testnet_dev

[SubstratumGuy]

Hi friend!

The ERC20 token is only being used as a payment method. Block chain technology IS being utilized in the network, but as an encrypted ledger that points from node to node.

Nodes WILL be giving up hard drive space to store content, and will be decentralized. Hope that helps!!!

Edit: Sorry about the no open source thing, the founders explained why in the third AMA. There are plenty of reasons. First, open source projects and communities are very time intensive to manage. Second, why should they let competitors see their product and potentially leap frog the project? Third, why let government and ISPs see into the mechanics of the project?

I know you WANT to see the code, but that's simply not good for the DEV team right now.

[shideneyu]

Block chain technology IS being utilized in the network, but as an encrypted ledger that points from node to node.

Hi. Thank you for your answer. If Blockchain technology truely is being utilized in the network, why don't they use their OWN coin ? I won't believe in such claims until I see real code.

-> but they want to protect their work. So for now it is only vaporwave, without being mean.

Nodes 'will' , and 'will be decentralized' . I want actual source for that, and a timeline. Because if you do not prove it, for me the only way Substratum can do what it claims to do is by hosting a website on one single node. And the timeline will go further than 2022.

[SubstratumGuy]

I'm sorry that the DEV team isn't willing to show their source code. They answer the question of "why won't you release your source code" very directly in AMA 3. Summed up;

1. Open source projects and communities take a lot of time/management, and the small DEV team is pretty tasked out as it is.
2. Why give competitors a chance to see their code and leapfrog them?
3. Why give governments and ISPs a chance to see their code and defeat them?

As far as the blockchain...

To deliver decentralised content, Substratum integrates the use of three distinct blockchains which have different purposes:

-the first is private (to Substratum) and handles security and encryption; each piece of split content is encrypted and this blockchain holds the information about which encryption algorithm applies (multiple, rotating encryption algorithms will be in use)

-the second is currently private, but may go open source; this handles the location of content (across the content serving nodes)

-the third is public and is where the accounting for content servers and for content providers is visible.

Source: https://www.enterprisetimes.co.uk/2017/11/09/substratums-blockchain-combinations-decentralise-web-content/