If we look at the Wikipedia definition, a Blockchain is a simple process of continuous growth of records list. In technical terms, it is a distributed database. Businesses these days are using Blockchain to drive up their business value - that's what FedEx is using for shipping record storage, and Porsche is making its way towards a smart contract platform based on a Blockchain. But why do businesses really need it and what's Azure Blockchain workbench is all about? According to the financial strategist at Porsche, Blockchain is the solution that enables them to transfer data more securely and quickly, offering customers better security and high-quality services.
What's Azure Blockchain Workbench is All About?
Microsoft Azure is a collection of Azure capabilities and services that enable an organization to create and deploy their applications to the Azure. It helps them integrate it with the current Azure subscription with the Blockchain available on the Marketplace. The idea is to enable the organizations to share the applications, data, and business processes with other trusted organizations. The Blockchain Workbench offers the infrastructure scaffolding for building applications to enable developers to commit their focus on smart contracts and business logic. In simple words, the Blockchain Workbench makes it easier for the developers to establish blockchain applications by integrating the capabilities and services of Azure to automate development task.
Creating and Managing Blockchain Applications
The Blockchain Workbench enables the enterprise to definite the applications using writing and configuration of start contract code. With the right Azure training, you can jumpstart the app development and focus on setting up supporting services and writing business logic. Moreover, it provides REST APIs and web application for managing blockchain users and applications. The administrators at the Blockchain Workbench can manage your access to the application and assign you as an authentic user for application roles. This ensures that you are automatically mapped onto the application as a member.
Important Features of Azure Blockchain Workbench
Here are the best features of Azure Blockchain Workbench that you can make the most out of with Azure training.
Contract Support and Multi-Workflow
With Azure Blockchain Workbench, you can showcase multiple workflows per single application. With the latest upgrade, the multiple workflows will show in the Workbench UI. Additionally, for the contract support, Azure Blockchain Workbench has a new Bazaar Marketplace. This further showcases the use of smart contracts and multiple workflows.
Improvement Monitor
The Blockchain Workbench features a DLT watcher to monitor the events and patterns occurring on the blockchain network attached to the system. If there's a glitch in the service, the Workbench will instantly stop processing them and focus on the transactions going through the blockchain process. The watcher is a reliable monitoring tool, which ensures notifying you in case of disruption with the service. Moreover, Workbench can also process and recover all transactions missed during as a result of the disruption.
Enable/Disable Apps
Many users are already using the Workbench to create and iterate various blockchain apps. One of the best features of the Azure Blockchain Workbench is its ability to enable and disable unused blockchain apps within the web application. The latest version allows you to control the inability of the application and lets you filter the application list to highlight the apps that are enabled or disabled.
Usability and Polish
The overall usability of Block Workbench is a feature on its own. You can view all the new items on the program as a new icon, making it easier for you to identify all the changes made to the actions, contracts, members, etc. This feature also makes it easier for you to look for people for assignment within contracts or for assigning roles. The search algorithm of the web app is also very precise. You can even find people even if you do not have a lot of details available.
BYOB - Bring Your Own Blockchain
One of the components of the Workbench deployment is the set of Ethereum Proof-of Authority (PoA) nodes that are available with every member subscription. The topology is a great way to give authority to a single member for the management of blockchain nodes. The latest version allows customers to have a choice between deploying to an existing Ethereum PoA network and deploying to a Workbench. The choice is completely yours. It gives you the flexibility of picking anything for the network, including a multi-member blockchain network. Also, the network can exist anywhere, which means there are no boundaries set for the network location. It can on-premises, on another cloud, or a hybrid deployment cloud.
However, it is important to be aware of the requirements:
- The endpoint chosen should be Ethereum PoA blockchain network. We can expect a new upgrade in this regard and may experience a standalone Ethereum PoA solution soon.
- It should be publicly accessible from the network.
- The configuration price should always be set to 0. It is important to note that Workbench accounts are not yet funded. In case you require funds, the transactions will fail right away.
Additional Features
In addition to these five major features, there are several more that deserves mention:
- The Workbench is designed with a frontend and backend, which can be fully put to work with more than one-hundred provisioned users. It enables the user to connect to Azure Active Directories to allow you to add and search more users with larger directories.
- Workbench supports Azure Active Directories of all sizes.
- Workbench has a reliable deployment process, with lesser chances of any failure case.
- Users who are authenticated to create contracts can complete the task, even if they are not a part of the admin.
- There's a database view that enables the user to access the right set of data to address problems and bugs.
With Azure certification, a developer can make the most out of this easy-to-use, free tool that offers a user-friendly interface. Use the Blockchain Workbench to create decentralized applications that execute and communicates logic against a group of nodes.