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HTTP Protocol Limitations & Proxy

Overview

HieraChain is designed as a specialized Plugin Layer for enterprises, focusing on data immutability and verification rather than replacing existing Web2 infrastructure. Therefore, HieraChain has strict regulations regarding transport protocols.

Why No HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 Support?

HieraChain does not support and has no plans to support HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 (QUIC) protocols directly from within the core. This stems from the "Don't reinvent the wheel" design philosophy and Python performance optimization.

1. Position in System Architecture

HieraChain does not replace existing databases but operates alongside them as a supplementary verification layer. Data is routed based on immutability needs:

  • Regular data: Goes directly to Web2 DB for maximum speed.
  • Data requiring verification: Passes through HieraChain to create digital proofs before syncing.
graph TD
    User((User/Application)) --> Web2[Enterprise Web2 Infrastructure<br/>WAF / LB / Gateway]

    Web2 -- "Data requiring verification" --> HC[HieraChain API Node]
    Web2 -- "Regular data" --> DB_Web2[(Web2 Database)]

    subgraph HieraChain_Internal [HieraChain Ecosystem]
        HC --> DB_HC[(HieraChain Private DB<br/>Proof Storage)]
    end

    HC -. "Cross-check & Verify" .-> DB_Web2

2. "Plugin Layer" Philosophy

HieraChain is built to run alongside and add blockchain value to existing Enterprise Web2 systems:

  • Separate data flow: Not all data needs blockchain. HieraChain only processes important "events" that require immutability, preventing the main system from being overloaded.
  • Separate database: HieraChain maintains its own DB (World State/Ledger) for distributed proof storage, completely separate from Web2's business DB.
  • Cross-check capability: HieraChain has a mechanism to connect (read-only) to Web2 DB for cross-verifying integrity between business data and on-chain proofs.
  • HTTP port security: Security at the communication port (Port 80/443) is still handled by the Web2 network infrastructure.

3. Why HTTP/1.1

  • Speed in internal network: In a trusted network environment between Reverse Proxy and HieraChain, HTTP/1.1 is the simplest protocol, with the least overhead and highest performance for API tasks.
  • Compatibility: 100% of current API Gateway and Load Balancer solutions perfectly support forwarding down to HTTP/1.1.

  • Resource focus: Instead of spending CPU on complex connection negotiation, HieraChain dedicates all resources to:

    • Event signature verification.
    • BFT consensus.
    • Ensuring ledger integrity.

Standard Enterprise Deployment

If your system requires modern features like HTTP/2, HTTP/3, or gRPC for optimizing client connections, you must use the Reverse Proxy Offloading model.

  1. Web2 Layer (NGINX/Traefik/F5): Accepts HTTPS connections (HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 QUIC) from users, decrypts SSL.
  2. HieraChain Layer: Receives decrypted requests from the Proxy via high-speed HTTP/1.1 connections.

Important

HieraChain will never replace existing Web2 infrastructure. HieraChain is built to run underneath those systems, providing auditability and immutability that traditional databases lack.

Security Notes

Even though it only runs HTTP/1.1, HieraChain maintains internal security layers:

  • API Key Verification: Application-level access authentication.
  • Trusted Proxies: Only accepts requests from predefined Load Balancer IPs (via HRC_TRUSTED_PROXIES variable).
  • Payload Sanitization: Cleans input data to prevent application-layer attacks.