NEM’s next generation core (Codename “Catapult”) unveils its power for productive use - confirmed in a live environment with >10m accounts
TOKYO - Sakura Internet Inc. (SI), Tech Bureau Corp (TB), and Arara Inc.(AI), recently collaborated and performed extensive tests on the Catapult Blockchain solution.
The Catapult blockchain solution which is being developed by TB based on the all-powerful NEM blockchain technology, is a second iteration of the mijin private chain solution. It is an enhancement and a complete overhaul of the mijin solution to give a superior performance designed for the financial industry. More information can be found at https://www.nem.io/catapultwhitepaper.pdf.
Tests have been carried out by the three parties so that AI can evaluate to see if this solution is suitable for their requirements to be used for digital money transfers. The results were encouraging. The tests had been carried out based on the following scenario:
1. 10.8 million accounts
2. A sustained pump of transactions for 1 hour from these 10.8 million accounts to a sink account (in a “many to one” stream) simulating a real life condition
3. 3 nodes were made to receive this transactions randomly to represent different touch points for these transactions
4. Short block time of about 15 seconds, so that transactions can be confirmed quickly
The setup of the test environment was based on the following conditions:
1. 3 nodes were located in the same geography
2. The nodes were located in the cloud provided by SI
3. Each of the 10.8 million accounts was assigned a micro value of a token so that they can each send the transactions into the receiving account in series
4. 2 nodes were to be brought down for 2 minutes to stress test the system
5. Proof of Stake consensus algorithm was used (As there was no need to compete for the so-called “harvesting” of transaction fees)
6. The whole transaction experiment was to be completed within an hour, in other words, maintaining a minimum average 3,000 transactions per second (tps).
An application was written to sequence the transactions in a series of constant stream of transactions from each of the 10.8 million accounts. The results obtained were very encouraging. The average transaction rate came to 3,085.77 tps completing the experiment in just under an hour. It hit a peak of 4,142 tps.
When two of the nodes were cut off for 2 minutes, the system continued to run. When they were re-connected back to the network it took a mere 3 minutes to synchronise. There were no signs of failures nor forkings.
At the end of the experiment consistency was checked to ensure that all the transactions were processed. The sink account showed that there were 10.8m transactions and there were no missing transactions.
Conclusion
The tests appear to meet the requirements as specified. There were no reported inconsistencies nor failures. The tests passed all requirements and the solution appears to be suitable for commercial production. The benchmark set was high at 3,000 tps and the solution passed the test.
Future developments
Further tests will be done in the very near future. These will include tampering and penetration tests. Additionally, tests will be carried out in geographically dispersed nodes which will include Tokyo and Hokkaido regions as well as SI’s data centre at Ishikari.
About Tech Bureau
Tech Bureau Corp. provides a crypto exchange “Zaif” and a private blockchain product “mijin” utilizing NEM technology. “Mijin” has been tested intensively as a high-throughput ledger engine in various applications and proven its applicability to banking systems.
About NEM
NEM is an innovative blockchain technology project — a peer-to-peer crypto platform. It is written in Java and JavaScript with 100% original source code. NEM has a stated goal of a wide distribution model and has introduced new features in blockchain technology in its proof-of-importance (POI) algorithm. NEM also features an integrated P2P secure and encrypted messaging system, multisignature accounts and an Eigentrust++ reputation system.
NEM has gone through extensive open alpha testing starting June 25, 2014, followed by lengthy and comprehensive beta testing starting on October 20, 2014. NEM’s public blockchain launched on March 31, 2015 and is now running without interruptions for almost two years.
Today, NEM is undergoing development of an upgraded core technology called “Catapult”. Catapult will power the mijin private chain technology in the first phase and become implemented into the NEM public chain subsequently.
