I am pleased to report that the witness server has been up and running for just over one month now and a lot has happened.
Hive Blockchain Redundancy
As you are aware the blockchain is maintained by individuals and teams that spend their time and resources to provide and maintain computer power that will process blocks onto the chain, this validation work is replicated by every witness server in a very fast way (every three seconds a new block is minted). Why is this important?
Every Witness holds a copy of the complete blockchain going back to the very first block stored on computer servers all over the planet, or that's the idea. However, some have said that if you rent a virtual server from a company like Google or Amazon, your witness could end up being right next to another witness in the same data centre. This is centralising the blockchain and not what we want.
We want decentisation, this is why I chose to own my complete machine and not rent a virtual server from a company and I also choose to host the server in the city that I live in. What does this mean?
- Nobody can shut down my server because I forgot to pay the monthly bill or they say that they do not allow crypto mining and cancel your service.
- The server is hosting a copy of the hive blockchain here in Adelaide (the First and Only one that I know of) This is furthering decentralisation and redundancy making our blockchain home more robust.
This does have a few downsides that I can talk about, because it is my server I am responsible if something breaks like a power supply or a disk drive, it is up to me to get a new one and get in there and fit it. Luckily I like doing that kind of stuff. It also means that I have to keep the software up to date, like applying patches now and then, and being able to jump on the server and perform any admin work that needs to be done.
Has Anything Gone Wrong
The Price Feed stopped updating, this just proves that this is not a set-and-forget type of operation, I have a monitor that will alert me if the price feed has not updated for 12 hours. I had to log in and get it running again, with an "electronic kick in the guts" but it just shows that even in this short time things break.
I think that most of the Hive witnesses have full-time jobs and do this work voluntarily as is the case with me, but we believe in this project and look forward to many new developments and Apps that will run on Hive in the coming months and Years.
How Is My Ranking Progressing?
Witness Rank is measured by your votes, yes you all have 30 votes to send over to hive witnesses and so far I have been very much humbled by the generosity and support I have gotten so far. So Thank You Very Much For Your Votes I have received not only your votes but many words of encouragement plus technical tips, all very welcome.
Here In Adelaide, we have a monthly in-person meetup at a local watering hole in the city where we get together to talk about crypto, gaming and life in general, we all know each other and have formed good friendships, Next one is on the 25 Jan 2024 all are welcome to join. I will be discussing my new adventure as a hive witness and also asking for a vote in a kind and respectful way. So don't be surprised if you get a personal note from me asking for a vote. Until next time, Hive On my Global Family.
