Comparing Hyperledger Besu, Fabric, Sawtooth, Iroha & Indy
Distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) are becoming increasingly important in the web3 landscape, offering powerful tools to revolutionize industries, increase trust, and improve efficiency. The Hyperledger projects have gained significant prominence in this field, providing various platforms tailored to meet diverse business needs. However, choosing the right distributed ledger technology (DLT) framework can be challenging. To help you make informed choices, we will compare Hyperledger Fabric, Besu, Sawtooth, Iroha, and Indy based on their architecture, use cases, and ecosystem.
Hyperledger Fabric focuses on enabling secure, private, and permissioned blockchain networks for enterprise applications. Its architecture features a distributed network of peers responsible for maintaining and validating the blockchain ledger. Endorsing peers execute smart contracts and validate transactions, while ordering service nodes maintain the order of transactions. This platform supports pluggable consensus mechanisms and uses channels to enable confidential transactions between selected participants. Hyperledger Fabric has been successfully applied in supply chain management by Walmart and in the financial sector by Siemens and Henkel.
Hyperledger Besu is an open-source enterprise blockchain platform that combines the benefits of public Ethereum with enterprise-grade functionality. It leverages the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and adheres to the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) Client Specification. Hyperledger Besu’s architecture is based on the Ethereum protocol and supports consensus mechanisms such as Proof of Work (PoW), Proof of Authority (PoA), and Istanbul Byzantine Fault Tolerance (IBFT). It enables the creation of private networks and interoperability with public Ethereum networks. Hyperledger Besu has been applied in the energy sector by the Energy Web Foundation and in the bond market by Banco Santander.
Hyperledger Sawtooth is an open-source blockchain platform that offers a modular and scalable solution for building distributed ledger applications. Its architecture emphasizes scalability and modularity, employing a transaction execution model called “transaction families” to define and implement custom rules for transaction processing. Hyperledger Sawtooth supports parallel transaction processing and various consensus algorithms such as Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET) and Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT). This platform has been used by Walmart for supply chain tracking and by healthcare providers for secure data exchange and management.
Hyperledger Iroha is an open-source blockchain platform that provides a simple and easy-to-use solution for decentralized applications (DApps). Its architecture focuses on modularity and extensibility, adopting a permissioned network model and employing a consensus algorithm called Yet Another Consensus (YAC). Hyperledger Iroha offers user-friendly client libraries and SDKs for DApp development. It has been utilized in the financial sector by Soramitsu and the National Bank of Cambodia to develop a blockchain-based payment system.
Hyperledger Indy is specifically designed for decentralized identity (DID) management. Its architecture employs advanced cryptographic techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs to ensure privacy and supports self-sovereign identity (SSI) principles. Hyperledger Indy has been used by the Sovrin Foundation to build the Sovrin Network, a global public utility for self-sovereign identity, and by Kiva to launch Africa’s first decentralized national ID system.
In conclusion, each of the Hyperledger DLT platforms—Hyperledger Besu, Fabric, Sawtooth, Iroha, and Indy—offers unique strengths and advantages. Hyperledger Besu combines the benefits of public Ethereum with enterprise-grade features and easy integration with other Hyperledger projects. Hyperledger Fabric excels in privacy and scalability, making it ideal for enterprise applications. Hyperledger Sawtooth’s modular and scalable architecture allows for flexible deployments. Hyperledger Iroha provides a user-friendly solution for building decentralized applications. Hyperledger Indy specializes in decentralized identity management. When choosing a Hyperledger DLT platform, consider your organization’s specific requirements and objectives. Web3 Labs can provide comprehensive support services for Hyperledger Besu enterprise deployments, helping you elevate your projects to new heights.
