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Consensus Module (hierachain/consensus/*)

Overview

The Consensus module is responsible for ensuring consistency and deterministic ordering of data across the entire HieraChain network. The system provides flexible consensus mechanisms, allowing enterprises to choose between extreme performance in trusted environments or absolute security in environments at risk of attack.

Supported Consensus Protocols

HieraChain natively integrates 3 main protocols, configurable via HRC_CONSENSUS_TYPE:

  • Ordering Service (CFT)

    • Suitable for Consortium or Single-org networks.
    • Crash Fault Tolerance.
    • High performance with batching mechanism.
    • Details

  • BFT Consensus (PBFT)

    • Suitable for untrusted environments.
    • Byzantine Fault Tolerance with condition n >= 3f + 1.
    • Ensures integrity even when nodes are compromised.
    • Details

  • Proof of Authority / Federation

    • PoA: Authorized nodes sign blocks.
    • PoF: Rotating leader mechanism within a consortium.
    • Suitable for Sub-Chains requiring fast processing.

Overall Architecture

graph TD
    A[Event Submission] --> B{Consensus Engine}
    B -- Config: ordering --> C[Ordering Service]
    B -- Config: bft --> D[BFT Consensus]

    C --> E[Block Building]
    D --> E

    E --> F[Storage Commitment]
    F --> G[(Ledger Persistence)]

Integration into Hierarchy

In HieraChain's hierarchical model:

  1. Main Chain: Typically uses BFT Consensus for maximum system-wide security.
  2. Sub-Chains: Can use Ordering Service or PoA for high transaction processing speed, then periodically submit Proofs to the Main Chain.