Dragonchain and Amazon EKS for the Technologically Challenged
A few weeks ago everyone in Dragon Land was super excited for Dean’s interview with Bob Wise, the General Manager for Amazon EKS, on Super Happy Dragon Lucky. I was super excited too! But when the interview started, I had no idea what in the world they were talking about. As you know, I’m a huge supporter of Dragonchain but I don’t always understand what’s happening. It had always been enough for me to see the excitement of the technical members of the Dragonchain family. Their excitement made me happy. But then came my IM mistake. I should be grateful that I knew the acronym didn’t stand for intramuscular, as it does in my line of work. (Insert Homer backing into the bushes GIF 🙄😏)
As you can see, I had it all wrong. It’s actually IAM- Identity Access Management. IAM is a framework that defines a set of permissions, or rules for access to files or data. It incorporates identification, authentication, and authorization. The three together ensure specified users have access to what they need to do their jobs, while unauthorized users are kept away from sensitive data resources and information. IAM permissions are an important part of DragonFactor as well as securing DragonNet and operating Smart Contracts. (There, redeemed!)
Since I didn’t even understand that small bit of conversation in the interview, I realized that I had some work to do. So in an effort to not be so clueless I have decided that I’m going to start doing a little research. I will then share what I have learned with you, my fellow technologically challenged Dragonchain family members. Now, I don’t intend to go so deep that it constitutes TMI, but I do intend to at least have a surface level knowledge of the awesomeness that is all things Dragonchain.
Dean and Bob’s interview was a great conversation on the happenings within the Amazon EKS community. They discussed how blockchain, with its increased transparency, data security, and cost benefits compared to legacy systems, can be enhanced with the use of Amazon EKS to assist enterprise businesses scale. Right off the bat I know what you’re thinking…because I thought it too. What in the world does that even mean? And it’s that question that brings us here. Don’t worry, it really isn’t that scary once you know what all the words mean so let’s break it down.
First, it’s important to understand AWS. AWS stands for Amazon Web Services. AWS is part of, you guessed it, Amazon and provides a secure computing platform in the cloud. You can use AWS for computing power, data storage, to run applications, or for anything else in which IT is required. This is all done over the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis making it economical because you only pay for what you use. It also saves money because you don’t have to purchase large amounts of hardware nor do you have to service that hardware to run your application. When you hear the phrase “helps businesses scale and grow” it’s directly referring to these cost saving characteristics in that the business doesn’t have to completely revamp its infrastructure to service a growing user base.
Now that we understand AWS, let’s look at Amazon EKS. EKS refers to Elastic Kubernetes Service. I know, I know, what is a Kubernete, you ask?
In order to explain Kubernetes we first need to dive into containerization. And no, it’s not like tupperware. But we are storing some sweet data in containers. These containers store components such as the kernel, binaries, and libraries. The kernel is central to an operating system. It loads first, kinda like getting everything started. Binaries are compiled code that allows a program to be installed without having to compile the source code when running the application. The source code is a text file that isn’t interpretable by a computer’s CPU and needs to be interpreted first, but the compiled code is readable by the computer’s CPU. The containers will also have libraries. These libraries are a collection of frequently used routines or instructions. They keep you from having to re-write routines for every program. All of these parts are required to run an application. They are all grouped together into the containers and deployed for every program saving resources and time from having to compile them separately. It’s kind of like the prepackaged part of the developing program.
So these application containers make it possible for applications to share host resources, such as operating systems. This allows for multiple applications to run on a smaller infrastructure thereby resulting in a smaller footprint. By utilizing the containers, it’s possible to go in and quickly adjust or make changes to the application code without disturbing or adjusting everything else running on the same operating system. This makes them very flexible and extremely efficient. (If you have ever had to work through downtime at a hospital you know exactly how beneficial it would be if all our systems used containers.) Containers are also portable in that they can be run on any cloud and move to any system without making code changes. Because things are packaged in these containers, they help solve issues with consistency, scalability, and security. I can’t help but think of the saying, “A place for everything and everything in its place.”
In order to group these containers together and have them do as programmed, you need a tool. That tool is Kubernetes. Kubernetes is an open sourced container orchestration tool designed to automatically deploy, scale, and operate containerized applications. With Kubernetes, changes can be made quickly as traffic fluctuates. Everything is automated and simplified.
This brings us back to Amazon EKS. AWS Kubernetes tool is a clustering of nodes (or computers) that orchestrates the containers. Because Amazon is Amazon, running the Kubernetes tool with AWS results in greater benefits in terms of managing, deploying, and scaling. It’s like supercharging the Kubernetes tool. The Kubernetes tool is run across Amazon’s multiple zones to eliminate a single point of failure. This means if one zone goes down there are more waiting to take on the load. Applications running any Kubernetes system are fully compatible with Amazon EKS.
So what’s all that mean? Basically, programming data is prepackaged, organized, and housed in containers that are the building blocks for applications. The containers allow for easy adjustments, decreased expenditures, time saving applications, and a decreased footprint. These containers are orchestrated by the Kubernetes tool being applied the largest cloud provider on the planet, facilitating automated management, cost optimization and compatibility.
Why is Dragonchain so excited to use Amazon EKS? Well, originally Dragonchain used AWS products called Lambda and CloudFormation. We need not get into it too much, but there were issues with those applications. With community and developer feedback it was clear the Dragonchain’s Smart Contract as a Service (SCaaS) being run on Lambda and CloudFormation wasn’t what Dragonchain had envisioned for the flexibility, speed, and consistency of their SCaaS. So because Dragonchain is Dragonchain they set out to make a change because when something’s not quite right, fix it. With the implementation of Amazon EKS, Dragonchain was able to release a faster, more extensive, and easier to use SCaaS system with the support of an extensive development community. The Amazon EKS system, coupled with the flexibility Dragonchain offers developers to use any code language they choose, sets Dragonchain life times ahead of the competition and makes it possible for Dragonchain to truly say All Humans are Welcome.
