The Latest Holo Dev Progress
Topics
- Holo Product Dev Progress
- New Blog Name!
- Engaging the Holo/Holochain Community
Holo Product Dev Progress
A while back, we communicated about the status of Holo product development with specific reference to the requirements for shipping HoloPorts. We’ve since made great progress and we are delighted to share this update because there is news on all five of our Alpha Test requirements that must be completed to ship. The below five requirements are the same ones that we referenced in the August blog post.
1. Networking must support at least 5000 nodes that can communicate with each other and with working apps.
With the introduction of Sim2h as described in recent Dev Pulse and blog articles, we have now scaled to multiple pools of hundreds of nodes in Closed Alpha. And we’re confident that over the next few weeks we’ll be able to integrate these groupings of networked nodes into the thousands.
The test network environment we’re currently operating in allows our internal team to test and integrate the Holo Hosting app, the Service Logs App, and the HoloFuel app along with several others. Our testing tools have evolved to provide better visibility across our protocols and network and we are effectively identifying and resolving issues that previously were slowing our progress. These tools allow us to view and evaluate unit and integration testing and also give us the ability to do internal stress tests in preparation for wider external testing with our HoloPort community.
2. Identity functions must ensure secure and unified identities for users across the Holo Network.
For our Closed Alpha release, we’ve enabled Hosts to both create an identity as well as secure the key pairs necessary for HoloPort registration. For Hosts, this same identity will be used across all of the TestNet apps including the HPAdmin, HoloFuel, Holo Hosting, Service Logs, etc.
Holo web users (people who access Holochain apps via a web browser) will generate unique Agent IDs, passwords, salt (random data that helps safeguard passwords), and key pairs for each hApp.
We have made progress on our DeepKey and Personas core hApps which are being tested end-to-end on Holochain distributed apps (not Holo hosted) installed with the Holoscape tool. DeepKey and Personas core apps will be integrated for all Holo web users in later releases.
3. HoloPort users must be able to plug into and register on the Holo Network to start providing hosting.
While basic functionality for updating and registering on the Holo network has been working for some time we have made significant progress using NixOS to automate deployment and configuration as well as make it efficient and scalable to the needs of our global HoloPort community. Ensuring a smooth user experience is the next step and involves three components be fully integrated.
HP Init (HoloPort First-Time Initialization) will 1) generate your HoloPort identity and keys; 2) check you are authorized to join the network; and 3) register you with our hosting gateways so we can connect users to your HoloPort. All the components of this workflow are complete. The Holo Central team is currently working to integrate and automate the process, thus making it usable by all Hosts with various levels of technical expertise.
HP Admin (HoloPort Admin software bundle) is a subset of the HoloPort OS and is what allows a HoloPort owner to login and manage their HoloPort. The UI for HP Admin is currently working and we’re finalizing the backend integration while integrating our new UI designs.
Front End SDK is a developer kit and a set of libraries that help a UI and a Holochain DNA talk to each other like a single bundle (connecting front-end code to back-end code). It provides the key generation and cryptographic signing routines, all performed within the browser, that secure a Holo web user’s hApp interactions such that Holo Hosts can’t break that security. The most complicated part of this SDK has been completed and we’re now finishing the final code cleanup.
4. A User Interface must be able to connect to a HoloPort from another device and manage their hosting options.
Because HoloPorts are designed to run without peripherals like a keyboard or screen, there is a need for hosts to connect to their HoloPorts using a second device. Using HP Admin (HoloPort Admin) a user can now set pricing, host and unhost hApps, see HoloPort earnings, link to the HoloFuel hApp, see whether their connection status is active or not, and see basic settings. In other words, there is now an underlying base functionality that integrates HoloHosting, HoloFuel, Service Logs, etc. We will continue to enable more features of this integrated admin UI. You can read more in Dev Pulse 49.
5. Basic versions of the HoloFuel app and a chat app must be available to be hosted on the HoloPort.
As mentioned in DevPulse 52, a version of the HoloFuel app works and you can now send test Fuel to other people. After testing several prototypes for chat apps on Holochain we’ve decided on one we’re currently calling the Community hApp. The Community hApp will have basic chat functionality when we ship HoloPorts and in future releases will be expanded. Look for more news about that in coming weeks.
The latest work on both Holochain Core and the use of our new networking simulation has enabled new methods for discovering how hApps, Core, and networking work together, enabling us to find and fix bugs prior to our release of HoloPorts. We’re looking forward to getting the testnet and HoloPorts into external users hands and receiving feedback.
You can find many more of the technical details and dependencies that may not be expressed here in recent Dev Pulse issues. Follow these links to read more about: HoloFuel UI; setting up a HoloPort; and an introduction to our networking simulation tool.
New Blog Name!
The nature and broad content of this blog hasn’t changed — but the name has! We’ve chosen to shift from “Tomorrow, Today” to “Holo Today” — a title that hopefully nods with a bit more accuracy towards the intention of sharing exactly where Holo and Holochain are at each moment in time. We look forward to sharing more here very soon.
Engaging the Holo/Holochain Community
We’ve always welcomed participation of many kinds and from many sorts including: crowdfunding backers, developers, future hosts, HOT holders, and people seeking new tools to change their business, community, and/or the world. We can’t and won’t stop doing that, both in “Holo Today,” and beyond. In the next few months engagement will become even more important as we seek out the builders, testers, and users who will step with us into the vast potential of the Next Net. We can’t wait to welcome new participants and together continue asking how we can better serve each other.
Thanks as always to our many communities, big and small, who have been walking with us over the past months and years. Our approaching future together will be even more exciting.
-Mary Camacho
