iExec Dev Letter #17: On GPU, IBM Think, New DApps — March 28, 2018
Hello everyone,
In this week’s Dev Letter, we zoom in on GPU exploration, securing decentralized projects with hardware enclaves, IBM Think 2018, the new applications on the iExec DApp Store, and the brand-new documentation page.
Exploring GPU Computing
During the past weeks, we’ve continued our exploration of GPU computing, led by Eric Rodriguez. We are now building two “home-made” mining rigs and we just received the hardware components we ordered.
We aim to deeply analyze the possibility of computing on GPU cards to help users, developers and resource providers within the iExec network.
Hardware Build List
- 3 ASUS GeForce GTX 1070
- 3 Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 570
- 2 Intel Celeron G3900 (2.8 GHz)
- 2 Corsair Vengeance LPX Series Low Profile 4 Go DDR4 2400 MHz CL14
- 2 Enermax MaxTytan 1250W and 1050W
We will soon run and evaluate machine learning applications and any other scientific applications based on Nvidia Cuda librairies and OpenCL programming langage.
OpenCL is a promising framework for writing programs that execute across heterogeneous platforms (CPU, GPU, FPGA, etc). We will focus on performance and cost for both users and resource providers.
How to Secure Decentralized Projects with Hardware Enclaves?
A new security trend consists of providing a hardware enclave to run applications in an inaccessible part of the CPU. Even the owner of the CPU isn’t able to access the data processed inside of this enclave.
With this cutting-edge technology, it is possible to run applications on a decentralized fashion even on untrusted nodes, because applications are no longer under the control of the decentralized node, but rather under the control of the initial user.
Currently available in early access, Data Guard on IBM Cloud, powered by Fortanix Runtime Encryption platform, uses Intel® SGX technology and offers easy to use and powerful services that accelerate the protection of decentralized applications.
With the use of enclaves, iExec is able to protect and scale the dapps leveraging the decentralized cloud composed of untrusted nodes.
iExec has presented the solution at IBM Think 2018 (19–22 March), where CEO Gilles Fedak joined the Cloud & Security panel, along with representatives of IBM and Fortanix.
2 New Applications Listed on the DApp Store
SoX: The Swiss Army Knife of Sound Processing
Sound eXchange (SoX) is a cross-platform audio editing software. It has a command-line interface, and is written in standard C.
Considered the Swiss Army knife of sound processing programs, SoX is a cross-platform (Windows, Linux, MacOS X) command line utility that can convert various formats of computer audio files in to other formats. It can also apply various effects to these sound files, and, as an added bonus, SoX can play and record audio files on most platforms.
For the list of all file formats, device drivers, and effects supported in the latest release, click here. To see the complete set of SoX documentation, click here.
LAME: The Best MP3 Encoder at Mid-High Bitrates
LAME is a high quality MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) encoder licensed under the LGPL.
Today, LAME is considered the best MP3 encoder at mid-high bitrates and at VBR, mostly thanks to the dedicated work of its developers and the open source licensing model that allowed the project to tap into engineering resources from all around the world.
The iExec Documentation Now Available
iExec keeps growing in functionality and it is of the utmost importance to maintain a clear and precise documentation as to all things related to the use of the network. Documentation is now live at the following URL:
The documentation contains the following guides, and will be regularly completed and updated while we implement and deploy more features.
- Getting started with iExec
- How to become a worker
- How to submit a work order
- How to deploy your dapp using Docker
Other Noteworthy News
- A lot of progress has been recently made on iExec’s Proof-of-Contribution. After PoCo 1 and PoCo 2, a third comprehensive article is in the making that will go even further in the processes involved.
- In the last PU, we were pleased to have a new intern join us, Zied Guesmi, who is working on creating an ‘Energy Positive Miner’ (EPM) that works by transforming solar energy collected by panels into electrical energy to power autonomous mining machines.
- The next DL will be dedicated to our V2 release, planned for May 2018, and which is the most-awaited component of iExec.
- We’re recruiting a Cloud & Blockchain Business Developer: https://iex-ec.workable.com/jobs/690059
Stay in touch
iExec re-invents cloud computing by building a decentralized marketplace where everyone can monetize their applications, servers, and data-sets. Blockchains cannot support the kind of computational needs that many dapps will require, and this problem will only compound exponentially as more dapps release their working platforms and products. Blockchains need a solution that allows them to compute off-chain and bring only the results on-chain. iExec provides exactly that solution.
- Website: https://iex.ec/
- Telegram: https://t.me/iexec_discussion
- Slack: https://iexec-team.slack.com/
- Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/iexec/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/iEx_ec
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/iexecteam/
- Tutorials: https://www.katacoda.com/sulliwane/
