On Using Hyperledger Fabric Over Networks: Ordering Phase Improvements

Blockchain is increasingly being used in various research disciplines, such as Internet of Things (IoT), Software Defined Networking (SDN), logistics, etc. Hyperledger Fabric is a popular enterprise-grade blockchain framework that falls into the category of the permissioned blockchains, making it particularly effective at ensuring transparency for secure communication among peers, such as the SDN controllers of an IoT network. One of the most prominent aspects of Hyperledger Fabric is its three-phase transaction flow architecture, which consists of the execution, ordering and validation phases. The ordering phase involves communication between the client and the ordering service, as the latter is responsible for the transaction assembly and distribution. This study reconstructs the ordering phase and proposes a mechanism for faster communication between the client and the ordering service. While adjusting various blockchain parameters, a performance analysis is carried out to examine the blockchain behavior with the applied mechanism. The experiments reveal performance improvements on various metrics when compared to the existing ordering phase. Notably, the proposed mechanism can be easily integrated in a future Hyperledger Fabric release.