Blockchain Scalability and its Foundations in Distributed Systems

Instructor: Vincent Gramoli

13,682 already enrolled

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5 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

120 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

5 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

120 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

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Assessments

6 assignments

Taught in English

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There are 5 modules in this course

Blockchain promises to disrupt industries once it will be efficient at large scale. In this course, you will learn how to make blockchain scale. You will learn about the foundational problem of distributed computing, consensus, that is key to create blocks securely. By illustrating limitations of mainstream blockchains, this course will indicate how to improve the technology in terms of security and efficiency.

This week, we will start our exploration of the blockchain and its relation to distributed computing. In particular, we will learn the basics on blockchain abstraction and the importance of consensus between machines in order to mitigate the risks of having an attacker spend the same asset twice - an undesirable situation called 'double-spending'.

What's included

7 videos4 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

7 videosTotal 29 minutes

Introduction to the course4 minutes
Introduction to Module 11 minute
History of blockchain6 minutes
What is blockchain?6 minutes
Double spending4 minutes
Module 1 conclusion1 minute
An interview with Christian Cachin - Cryptography and quantum computing8 minutes

4 readingsTotal 40 minutes

How to navigate the MOOC10 minutes
Overview of assessments and activities10 minutes
Module 1 further readings10 minutes
Podcast interviews with Christian Cachin10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Module 1 quiz30 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 15 minutes

Introduce yourself15 minutes

This week we will learn how classic blockchains try to solve consensus. We will look at the failures and delays blockchain systems must consider, and how these events may prevent machines from reaching consensus.

What's included

10 videos2 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

10 videosTotal 41 minutes

Introduction to Module 21 minute
The 2 types of failures4 minutes
The 3 properties of the consensus problem3 minutes
Impossibility of consensus6 minutes
Proof of work and the importance of miners6 minutes
Resolving forks6 minutes
51% attacks and network delay5 minutes
GHOST protocol5 minutes
Module 2 conclusion1 minute
An interview with Christian Cachin - Hyperledger Fabric version 0.6 to 1.x4 minutes

2 readingsTotal 30 minutes

Essential reading: From blockchain consensus back to Byzantine consensus20 minutes
Module 2 further readings10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Module 2 quiz30 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 15 minutes

Can blockchain work without solving consensus?15 minutes

This week, we will investigate how to solve the consensus problem. To do this, we will first investigate how to solve consensus when failures cannot occur in the network. Later on, we will learn how to solve consensus when processes may fail, first through crash failures and then when processes can behave arbitrarily.

What's included

7 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt

7 videosTotal 23 minutes

Introduction to Module 31 minute
Consensus without failures5 minutes
Consensus with crash failures5 minutes
Consensus with Byzantine failures2 minutes
Byzantine tolerant consensus6 minutes
Module 3 conclusion1 minute
An interview with Christian Cachin - A prototype of Fabric with BFTSMaRt Byzantine consensus3 minutes

1 readingTotal 10 minutes

Module 3 further readings10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Module 3 quiz30 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 15 minutes

The malicious student15 minutes

This week, we will investigate how delays in the network can impact the security of the blockchain. We will illustrate this using network attacks that allow hackers to steal digital assets in the past and that every blockchain designer should be aware of.

What's included

6 videos4 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

6 videosTotal 22 minutes

Introduction to Module 41 minute
Beyond synchrony4 minutes
The Balance Attack4 minutes
Double spending in Ethereum4 minutes
Module 4 conclusion2 minutes
An interview with Christian Cachin - Evaluating different blockchain systems7 minutes

4 readingsTotal 65 minutes

The 8 fallacies of distributed systems20 minutes
Essential reading: The Balance Attack20 minutes
Essential reading: Double-spending in Ethereum15 minutes
Module 4 further readings10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Module 4 quiz30 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 15 minutes

Is Ethereum secure?15 minutes

This week, we will explore how to design a scalable and secure blockchain algorithm. What makes a blockchain algorithm scalable and secure? To be secure, we need a consensus algorithm that works over the Internet and is not affected by unexpected communication delays. To be scalable, we need to get rid of the bottlenecks.

What's included

9 videos5 readings2 assignments2 discussion prompts

9 videosTotal 29 minutes

Introduction to Module 51 minute
Consensus without synchrony3 minutes
Leveraging bandwidth4 minutes
Set Byzantine Consensus problem4 minutes
Democratic Byzantine Fault Tolerance7 minutes
The Red Belly Blockchain5 minutes
Module 5 conclusion1 minute
An interview with Christian Cachin - What if Byzantine participants keep sending invalid requests?2 minutes
Summary of course1 minute

5 readingsTotal 75 minutes

Essential reading: DBFT15 minutes
Essential reading: Evaluating the Red Belly Blockchain20 minutes
Preview talk at IEEE S&P 202110 minutes
Module 5 further readings10 minutes
Scalability Panel Discussion 20 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 90 minutes

Module 5 quiz30 minutes
End of course quiz60 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 30 minutes

Scalability of blockchain15 minutes
Take home messages15 minutes

Instructor

Instructor ratings

(50 ratings)

Vincent Gramoli

The University of Sydney

1 Course13,682 learners

Offered by

The University of Sydney

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Reviewed on Jul 18, 2022

The foundational elements of this course were indeed useful, however the wk3 dive into symbols and algorithms through me for a bit of a loop. Got there in the end.

Reviewed on Sep 13, 2023

It great and gave awesome understanding of distributed systems and communication. However, this has prerequisites of blockchain knowledge.

Reviewed on Mar 16, 2024

amazing useful course on Blockchain Scalability and its Foundations

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