Sentinel is proud to announce the public launch of the Tendermint Testnet (STT) v1.1. This testnet allows users to use Sentinel’s provably encrypted p2p dVPN network as well as to host an OpenVPN exit node that supports the Tendermint testnet in order to support the network and prepare one for the monetized mainnet. The launch of the mainnet will be after the official mainnet launch of the Cosmos Network.
This article clearly describes :
- The differences between the Sentinel Ethereum and Tendermint testnets
- Instructions on how to download and use the Sentinel dVPN Tendermint Client
- Instructions on how to host an OpenVPN Node to provide bandwidth to users of the Sentinel dVPN Tendermint Client
The next article will focus more on the architecture of the Sentinel dVPN network on Tendermint in specific detail.
To find out more on why Sentinel has chosen Tendermint as the most optimal blockchain for it’s protocol layers, please check out:
What can users do on the Sentinel v1.1 Public Testnet?
- Use Sentinel’s dVPN Network — Use Tendermint Test Tokens in order to avail the services of Sentinel’s provably encrypted dVPN network which spans over 15 community-hosted dVPN nodes
- Receive Test SENT (or TSENT on Sentinel Tendermint Testnet) from the Faucet — Receive SENT Tendermint Test Tokens from the STT v1.1 token faucet in order to test the functionality of the dVPN as well as to conduct transactions to other user wallets
- Host an OpenVPN Node on Sentinel’s Tendermint Network — Host an OpenVPN Node to support Sentinel’s dVPN network as well as to emulate the experience of the monetized hosting that a user can do on Sentinel’s upcoming MainNet.
Download the Sentinel dVPN on Tendermint Today!
The website has been updated with the latest URLs of the dVPN Desktop App. Users are encouraged to download releases from the Official Sentinel Github GitHub repository.
Below the are download URLs for the same in English and Chinese:
- Download for Linux in English — Ubuntu 18.04 and above or Ubuntu 16.04 and above
- Download for Linux in Chinese — Ubuntu 18.04 and above or Ubuntu 16.04 and above
- Download for Mac — English & Chinese
- Download for Windows — English & Chinese
Comparison between the Sentinel Network ETH and Tendermint implementations
This section focuses on the comparison between the Sentinel ETH Testnet and the Sentinel Tendermint Testnet.
1. Transaction Governance
Ethereum
The Sentinel ETH ERC20 Testnet is currently operational on the ETH Rinkeby TestNet. On this Testnet the network’s transactional security and governance is completely dependent on the integrity of the Rinkeby’s POW driven blockchain consensus.
POW based blockchains require an exponential amount of computing resource to validate a transaction as compared to POS blockchain networks as POW based consensus verify all transactions sequentially until the point of the genesis. POS consensuses rely on the measurement of state in order to achieve finality at a faster rate while consuming less computing resource.
Tendermint
Chains built using Tendermint have the ability to maintain governance related autonomy while also ensuring interoperability between other hubs, zones and bridges built on independent Tendermint blockchains or the Cosmos Network. Unlike the ERC20 token model, chains built on Tendermint will not have to pay a fee in Cosmos’s native token, the ‘atom’.
Tendermint uses a bPOS consensus system wherein blockchains can set a finite number of validators in order to achieve faster consensus while also protecting the network from Byzantine attacks.
Various p2p communication and privacy solutions that will be built on the Sentinel network rely on microtransaction based revenue models with high volumes, and the Tendermint blockchain is perfect to support Sentinel due to its ability to achieve 4–5 figure TPS (Transactions per second) as compared to Ethereum’s significantly lower 15 TPS.
2. Transaction Fees
Ethereum
Currently on the Ethereum Rinkeby Testnet, users must pay Test GAS in addition to Test SENT in order to utilize the dVPN network. The Test SENT is paid directly to the node host while the Test GAS is taken as a form of network fee emulating real GAS that is used to incentivize POW miners for their expenditure on computing resource and energy.
The requirement for GAS for all transaction fees on the Ethereum mainnet leads to a major issue for p2p distributed apps built on the network from a user perspective.
Tendermint
On the Tendermint Testnet, users will not be subject to the use of multiple tokens as a transaction fee for the transfer of Test SENT.
On the Sentinel Tendermint Mainnet, the aim is to allow for any token that is built on the the Cosmos Network or linked with a bridge to be accepted by Sentinel’s validators or service providers. This transaction-fee interoperability will pave way for a future where any token can be potentially accepted as the fee token as decided by the governance of the network.
If a dVPN user pays in BTC for the dVPN service and BTC is whitelisted as fee coin in Sentinel Network, then stakeholders (validators and their corresponding stakers) will receive fee rewards from that transaction in form of BTC. The Cosmos Network and Tendermint allows us to envision a true free market economy which is empowered by flawless cross-chain payment integrations that have not possible so far with any other platform/network. This is the first step on the journey of creating blockchain applications that will achieve real world adoption.
3. Interoperability
Ethereum
Ethereum does not support interchain communication as it relies on creating sub-tokens that depend on Ethereum’s mainchain. This means that there is a significant scalability issue with Ethereum related to its mainchain getting clogged up by the ever-increasing number of dApps and new user transactions.
Ethereum’s initial design was to facilitate the easy wallet-management of and trustless exchange between it’s sub-tokens but not to empower it’s sub-tokens to conduct seamless swaps between other independent chains (EOS).
Tendermint
The Cosmos SDK built on Tendermint provides a unique infrastructure where any blockchain can operate a bridge zone to become interopable (for example SENT can be interopable with PIVX if the network wishes to establish a bridge)
Using IBC, Sentinel Network’s Hub communicates with the Cosmos Hub and other Hubs as part of the Cosmos Network. This will not only enable Services within the Sentinel Network to connect with each other and accept either the native token SENT or other white-listed tokens, but also help them connect with other networks within the Cosmos Network.
In the upcoming testnets, the Sentinel Hub will be launched and will then be made interopable Sentinel dVPN and Sentinel dChat zones which act as a form of state-channels for efficient scaling.
Sentinel Network aims to allow any coin/token to be accepted as network fee payments as well as currency that p2p Service Providers can accept in exchange for the provision of network resource.
4. Validator Governance
Ethereum
The Rinkeby Testnet will have to be manually forked to support the upcoming new ETH chain.
Ethereum does not natively support governance changes on an existing chain and instead requires the laborious and inefficient process of manual hard-fork.
Tokens built on the Ethereum chain (e.g ERC20) are also required to upgrade to the newly forked chain.
Tendermint
On the Tendermint Testnet, network governance is in the hands of the validators who will be democratically determined on the mainnet. The ‘Voting Power’ or weight of validators is determined not only by their historical performance but also by the amount of tokens delegated to(or bet on) them by SENT holders.
Network Governance Proposals are handled by the democratic validator set and circumvent the requirement to fork to a ‘new chain’. These proposals may include:
- Acceptance of new validators or rejection of existing malicious validators
- Acceptance of new zones and bridges or rejection of existing ones
- Changes to supply or the locking of a malicious/hacked account
Preview of the Sentinel Tendermint Desktop Client
Once the Tendermint dVPN application is installed, the user needs to toggle the Tendermint Testnet. For detailed installation instructions and downloads, please check the GitHub Releases page.
The user will then have to create a Tendermint Account Wallet and save the ‘seed’. Save user keys as the same are required when running a Tendermint OpenVPN Node on the dVPN network.
Upon completion of the Tendermint Testnet wallet creation, users will automatically receive 500 Test SENTs. When a user clicks the ‘Get Free Tokens’ button on the ‘Receive’ screen, they will receive 500 more TEST tokens (and then 100 tokens afterwards up to a maximum of 5 times).
Click the Connect button to connect to the desired node.
The ‘locking’ of tokens is a form of a new pre-paid payment mechanism that will be further explained in the upcoming release. Those who can see between the lines will understand the magnitude of importance of this effective payment channel that is utilizing a decentralized form of an ‘escrow’ mechanism.
To suspend the VPN session as user will have to click on the ‘Disconnect’ button. The user will be automatically disconnected when all of the locked TSENT is consumed.
Upcoming Demographic-Specific Releases
Sentinel will be releasing a number of demographic-specific clients which not only account for regional languages but also for the nuances in the country-wide firewalls maintained by the governments of these regions.
For example, Sentinel will soon be releasing exclusive clients for our Chinese and Iranian community which focus on the usage of p2p Socks5/WireGuard dVPN services which bypass the respective national firewalls while the OpenVPN protocol regularly fails to do.
How does Sentinel increase its active user-base and total impact? By spreading to as many regional communities while also taking into consideration the various idiosyncratic requirements presented by these regions.
How to run an OpenVPN Node on the Tendermint TestNet v1.1
This section provides users with insight into the process of hosting an OpenVPN Tendermint Node.
For detailed instructions please follow the URL here.
The docker image to host the OpenVPN node can be found at the URL here.
First the user starts off by downloading the config file.
The user will then have to edit the recently downloaded config file.
The user will then have to pull the node docker image
The user will have to generate the public and private keys by giving an Account Name and Account Password as input. These will be utilized to encrypt the user’s keys locally.
The user will then have to initiative the OpenVPN node which will then appear on the public VPN list in the Sentinel Tendermint Testnet v1.0 client.
Join our Community!
You can participate in the discussion on our Telegram community chat and follow our Twitter handle and the Telegram Official Announcements channel for regular development and updates to the network.
Do follow the Medium blog for detailed updates on the development progress and release updates.
About Sentinel Network
Sentinel Network is a network layer that enables a true p2p and decentralized applications and resources marketplace. Sentinel enables anyone to create Public and Private networks that provide access to both free and incentivized, and also payment method agnostic (pre-paid/escrow/post-paid) services (dApps) & distributed resources, enabling its clients to become both producers and consumers in the network.
Sentinel utilizes locking, staking and multi-sig directly from Tendermint core and Cosmos SDK and aims to fully eliminate the disadvantages of previous generation protocols, that couldn’t scale due to limitations of the blockchain they share with other dApps or that have an unsustainable economic model that reduces usability or access to the product they offer.
Follow us on Medium to stay up to date with the latest Sentinel announcements and developments.
View exchanges for trading $SENT on the Sentinel website.
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