Public blockchains have recently emerged as a disruptive technology in the distributed systems arena because of the adoption of a predominant decentralized approach. Initially dealing with the creation of a disintermediated cryptocurrency and financial market, the blockchain technology has rapidly caught the interest of a growing scientific and technological community willing to develop novel applications, in varied contexts, based on the decentralization paradigm, thus undermining the long established client-server model. The birth of Ethereum, the first public blockchain introducing executable programs into its core technology, has fostered the development of other similar platforms specifically addressed to private implementations, capable of mitigating well-known technological issues of the native public blockchains, especially in terms of scalability, energy demands and performance costs. This thesis aims at demonstrating that the Ethereum blockchain technology is also suitable to host effective and performing decentralized applications in enterprise contexts, without resorting to custom-built blockchains for permissioned environments, provided that ad-hoc system enhancements are introduced in the devised solutions. The novel applications are therefore equipped with tailored features, such as properly designed smart contracts, optimal use of the blockchain storage, and smooth integration with external decentralized file systems, thereby ensuring that the developed Ethereum-based solutions exhibit a secure, decentralized and scalable behaviour. Two use cases, namely “contact tracing” and “renewable energy”, have been investigated. Intensive test activities have thoroughly proven that a sensible use of the Ethereum platform delivers the expected outcomes in the explored enterprise contexts.
Le blockchain pubbliche sono recentemente emerse come una tecnologia dirompente nell'arena dei sistemi distribuiti a causa dell'adozione di un predominante approccio decentralizzato . Pur inizialmente occupandosi della creazione di mercati monetari e finanziari disintermediati, la tecnologia blockchain ha rapidamente catturato l'interesse di una crescente comunità scientifica e tecnologica che guarda allo sviluppo di nuove applicazioni, in vari contesti, e basate sul paradigma della decentralizzazione, cercando in tal modo di scalzare il classico modello client-server. La nascita di Ethereum, la prima blockchain pubblica che introduce programmi eseguibili (smart contract) nella sua tecnologia di base, ha favorito lo sviluppo di altri simili piattaforme specificamente indirizzate alle implementazioni di applicazioni per organizzazioni private, in grado di mitigare i ben noti problemi tecnologici delle blockchain pubbliche native, soprattutto in termini di scalabilità, fabbisogno energetico e costi delle prestazioni. Questa tesi mira a dimostrare che la tecnologia blockchain di Ethereum è adatta anche per ospitare applicazioni decentralizzate efficaci e performanti in contesti aziendali, senza dover ricorrere a blockchain costruite su misura per ambienti privati, a condizione che vengano apportati miglioramenti di sistema ad hoc nelle soluzioni ideate. Le applicazioni originali presentate nella tesi sono quindi dotati di funzionalità su misura, come "smart contract" adeguatamente progettati, un uso ottimale dello "storage" della blockchain e un'integrazione mirata con "file system" esterni decentralizzati, assicurando in tal modo che le soluzioni sviluppate, basato su Ethereum, esibiscano un comportamento sicuro, decentralizzato e scalabile. Due casi d'uso, vale a dire "il tracciamento dei contatti epidemiologici" ed "il mercato dell'energia rinnovabile", sono stati presi in considerazione. Le intense attività di test hanno ampiamente dimostrato che un uso ragionevole della piattaforma Ethereum offre i risultati attesi nei contesti aziendali esplorati.
Le tecnologia Ethereum applicata alle soluzioni decentralizzate consortili. Casi d'uso: sanità ed energie rinnovabili.
MAROTTA, GIOVANNI MARIA ANTONIO
2023
Abstract
Public blockchains have recently emerged as a disruptive technology in the distributed systems arena because of the adoption of a predominant decentralized approach. Initially dealing with the creation of a disintermediated cryptocurrency and financial market, the blockchain technology has rapidly caught the interest of a growing scientific and technological community willing to develop novel applications, in varied contexts, based on the decentralization paradigm, thus undermining the long established client-server model. The birth of Ethereum, the first public blockchain introducing executable programs into its core technology, has fostered the development of other similar platforms specifically addressed to private implementations, capable of mitigating well-known technological issues of the native public blockchains, especially in terms of scalability, energy demands and performance costs. This thesis aims at demonstrating that the Ethereum blockchain technology is also suitable to host effective and performing decentralized applications in enterprise contexts, without resorting to custom-built blockchains for permissioned environments, provided that ad-hoc system enhancements are introduced in the devised solutions. The novel applications are therefore equipped with tailored features, such as properly designed smart contracts, optimal use of the blockchain storage, and smooth integration with external decentralized file systems, thereby ensuring that the developed Ethereum-based solutions exhibit a secure, decentralized and scalable behaviour. Two use cases, namely “contact tracing” and “renewable energy”, have been investigated. Intensive test activities have thoroughly proven that a sensible use of the Ethereum platform delivers the expected outcomes in the explored enterprise contexts.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
Marotta_PhD_Thesis (20-02-2023).pdf
accesso aperto
Dimensione
5.62 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
5.62 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
I documenti in UNITESI sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14242/75354
URN:NBN:IT:UNICT-75354