Enterprise Blockchains

This chapter covers the four most widely used enterprise blockchain platforms and distributed ledgers, namely Hyperledger, R3 Corda, Quorum, and Ethereum. Hyperledger Fabric was mainly developed by IBM. Fabric is intended as a foundation for developing applications or solutions with the modular architecture that enterprises require. R3 is an enterprise blockchain software firm developed by a broad ecosystem of more than 200 members and partners across multiple industries from both the private and public sectors. Quorum is an open source blockchain solution built by enhancing the existing Ethereum blockchain. Enterprise blockchains have different requirements than public blockchains such as Ethereum. Ethereum uses a virtual machine to deploy the blockchain services. The chapter also covers the technical merits including security, consensus, virtual machines, features, and functions that are critical to understanding the blockchain platform. The chapter discusses the architecture at a fundamental level so IT administrators can understand the blockchain network and services.