As an internet user, I’m certain you’ve experienced the frustration of waiting for a webpage to load or an app to respond. It’s even more frustrating when you’re in a hurry.
Allow me to introduce Fleek Network to you, and how it can transform the way you experience the internet. My aim with this article is to break down Fleek’s complexities and explain it to you in a simple form so you can understand how it’s going to propel decentralization and essentially help you as a Web3 user.
Walk with me.
Fleek Network is a decentralized edge platform committed to solving the problem of optimizing the performance and speed of websites and other online services. It’s an innovative system of edge nodes that allows developers worldwide to easily create and deploy edge services so they can work seamlessly for users like you and I.
We’ve used the term, “edge” multiple times. What does it mean in this context?
Presently, most of the internet population store their data on cloud storage system, which means whenever they request information from it, the info has to travel down all the way from the central cloud down to their computer, which causes a bit of delay referred to as latency. But now, a new concept is emerging where you as a user can store your information on a mini-cloud system that’s strategically placed closer to your location. This leads to a faster loading time as the information doesn’t have to travel far, which in turn leads to an enhanced experience with the internet.
These mini-cloud frameworks are known as edge nodes. Together, they create an Edge Network that delivers faster, low-latency, and seamless experiences. This is what Fleek Network is bringing into Web3: a decentralized Edge Network that could be useful to almost every Web3 project.
An Edge Network is defined by three critical qualities that enable its functionality: High performance, low-latency, and geographic work distribution. Remarkably, attaining these qualities pose a challenge for decentralized systems at the very core of their technology. To address this, Fleek Network incorporates strategic concepts to empower these systems to meet the required performance standards.
Geographic Awareness, Smart Routing & Work Allocation, Stateless Execution, VM-Less Core, Built-In File System, Content Addressable Core, Incremental Content Retrieval & Verification.
Now that you’ve understood Fleek and its aim to provide a better web experience, let’s delve into Fleek’s Protocol and its Architecture.
Fleek is an Ethereum side-chain that leverages proof-of-stake mechanisms with its system of edge nodes. It also utilizes Ethereum for its native token, FLK which is used for an array of utilities such as staking, governance, and other economical activities within the protocol.
At its core, a series of data are stored in a state, which include:
— Token Balances
— Staking information
— Node Reputation
— Amount of work a node has performed in a given epoch.
Of course with a decentralized system, this state has to be replicated across all nodes in the network. Putting into consideration how this process could slow down the network, Fleek employed two external protocols, Narwhal and Bullshark. Narwhal to manage transactions, and Bullshark to achieve consensus on the total ordering of transactions with minimal networking overhead.
By utilizing the power of edge computing, Fleek offers a wide range of options to build services on its protocol that are more efficient: Server-side computing, consensus-based computation, zero-knowledge computation, EVM Compatible computation, and several more.
With Fleek Network, developers can build almost anything on Web3 that are as excellent as centralized technologies, while still conforming to the decentralized principles of Web3. Web3 products can remain as decentralized as possible while maintaining speed, splendid performance, and providing a top-notch user experience. Fleek Network’s trailblazing approach holds the potential to redefine how we interact with digital content, and takes us a giant leap further in our technological evolution.”
