Community Update 180

Owned by Rao Bhamidipati
Last updated: Jul 14, 2021
5 min read

General

  • Status of the networks and Releases
    • All Main net nodes are running RNode version 0.11.0 https://github.com/rchain/rchain/releases/tag/v0.11.0 This version includes the block merge code that does not require a hard fork, but block merge is currently disabled until we have the block merge version coming up in hard fork 2, aka block merge hard fork.
    • A Hard fork 1 release candidate 0.12.0.rc1 is prepared and running on the hard fork 1 testnet. Genesis has been tested on this version and found to be trouble free. This is the version that will be used to complete the conversion of the main net to Hard Fork 1 this weekend. Current test net info is at RChain public testnet information
    • The current epoch ends at July end. Please email staking@rchain.coop If you want to stake additional REV or withdraw your current stake (ONLY the portion that is not subject to long term staking in your purchase contract). The default is to roll over your stake to the next period if you take no action.
    • There will be two more hard forks after this, one for block merge (release versioning will be 0.13.x) and one for PoS changes (release versioning will be either 0.14.x or 1.x.x) to enable a fully decentralized node.

Sprint 91 in progress

Main Focus is to prepare for and make operational the Hard fork 1 on the main net to eliminate the slashed validator.
Continue Block merge work and improvements, resolve any identified bugs, harden the main net, improve performance.  Current PR list is at https://github.com/rchain/rchain/pulls .  

Hard Fork 1

  1. Hard fork 1 release candidate 1 RNode version 0.12.0.rc1 is being tested on the testnet.
  2. The balances are reported and first member communication is complete, to enable REV holders and members to review/confirm their balances and report any discrepancies. We are responding to the emails received and may send out another communication as a reminder/courtesy, incorporating answers to the most common questions we are getting.
  3. First set of exchange communications are complete. We will be reminding them again.
  4. Current hard fork 1 cut-over schedule is to shut down the network at or around 6 AM Friday US Eastern time July 16, 2021 (6 PM China time) around block height 908300, publish the new balances report, give the team members and REV holders 24 hrs to review and proceed with the genesis of the new hard fork 1 network.  We will then validate the new network, run some test transactions etc. The cut-over process should be complete by the weekend.
  5. Anyone in the community can audit and/or re-run the entire process for themselves. The process we followed and how you can audit the process and verify the results is listed at https://github.com/rchain/rchip-proposals/issues/42
  6. Hard Fork 1 Preparatory Snapshot for balances is at https://github.com/rchain/rchain/blob/dev/wallets_REV_BLOCK-896988.txt
  7. Hard Fork 1 tasks are listed at https://github.com/rchain/rchain/milestone/13?closed=1
  8. Tomislav presented the full process we are following for hard fork 1 and how the community can validate that process against main net data during last Friday's Tech Governance meeting.

Hardware based performance improvements:

  1. Experiments and performance validation work with the hardware partner in the in the last week have lead to the conclusion that we can get much of the initially scoped performance improvements (approximately 300x) with optimizations and code changes on our end. The collaborative work pointed out where to optimize and how to optimize.We will be implementing these optimizations over the next several releases. https://github.com/rchain/rchain/projects/4  and https://github.com/rchain-test/rchain-secure/projects/1
  2. There is perhaps one more area where we want to see if their hardware can further accelerate. But this is not on the critical path any more.
  3. We will explore other hardware options available for performance improvement, such as Key Value optimized storage, which should be additional to the above optimizations.

Hard Fork 2 - block merge hard fork

  1. Tentative scope for block merge hard fork is published. The intention is to complete all changes necessary for block merge as well as any simple configuration or other changes that do not require too much work, so that we can get leaderless block merge on the main net as soon as possible. Status of various tasks is at
    1. https://github.com/rchain/rchain/projects/4  and https://github.com/rchain-test/rchain-secure/projects/1
  2. Many of the changes are complete. An initial release will be tagged in the next few days for testing in the dev net. It will be made available to the community for testing soon after.  
  3. Supplementing per validator vault with either per deploy vault or purses is in final stages of design / early prototyping stage to see what works effectively. This is a source of block merge conflicts until resolved.

Hard Fork 3 - PoS changes

  1. The design doc for Soft fork process is ready for review along with proof of concept code for the same.  Current plan is to review this at the Tech Governance meeting this Friday or next.


Explanation of the different Hard Forks (for reference)

Proceeding further with block merge requires changes to the per validator vault to make it a per deploy vault/purse etc. We are currently finalizing the design for this. Actual code and test will take some time. We are potentially looking at this scenario:
1. First hard fork for balances and removing the slashed validator
2. Second hard fork for block merge - This is the fastest way to get block merge on the main net without holding it until the third hard fork. This includes the per deploy vault and the Tree depth being increased to 4.
3. Third hard fork with all other changes.  Third hard fork includes implementation of a lot of changes including the PoS contract changes, Soft fork process etc.  Design for soft fork process is complete and is being reviewed by the team.

(Hard Fork) TEST NET 2 ADVISORY: (for reference)

To test the version of block merge with data changes that need a hard fork, we are creating a separate feature branch and a TEST NET 2 as the testbed for this feature branch. This content will be left here until we are close to Hard Fork 2 implementation on the main net. 

  1. There will be no guarantees of data storage format compatibility on Test Net 2, as the data storage format changes are incrementally implemented. The anticipated changes are mostly storage level format changes visible only to node operators. We encourage the community to start using Test Net 2 in addition to the current test net, so that we can quickly identify and resolve any issues with the upcoming hard forks. All new development should be targeted to TEST NET 2 and all current code MUST BE tested against TEST NET 2 to ensure future compatibility. 

When we do hard fork 1 on the main net, we will be starting from an empty state, with REV balances only. On Test Net 2, this 'loosing the state' will be repeated multiple times.

Tech-Governance meetings on Fridays 9:30 AM Eastern, 6:30 Am Pacific 

Mercury requirements and acceptance criteria

Details on the acceptance criteria: Mercury acceptance criteria

Please see the documentation at https://github.com/rchain/rchain/blob/dev/docs/features.md. 

Developer website

https://developer.rchain.coop 

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