An optimized blockchain solution for the IBM z14

Abstract

Blockchain is a technology that has been available for several years and has already had several generations. Multiple implementations exist. In this paper, we describe how one of them, the Hyperledger Fabric, is used today to demonstrate the wide usage of the technology for multiple markets beyond finance and cryptocurrency. The use cases highlight the relevance of security - due to the type of data and the distributed foundation of blockchain - and of system performance to enable the use cases in production. Security and performance are the base for the architecture of blockchain on the IBM LinuxONE systems. The Secure Service Container prevents tampering, and the cryptocard usage hardens the solution - and the performance optimization in the compiler, cryptoinstructions, and large caches provides the performance. These optimizations have been further extended with the IBM z14 beyond previous IBM Z generations. In this paper, we describe how a cluster topology is used to implement a high-availability service that scales dynamically from small networks to large ones using the hot plug capabilities of the IBM LinuxONE systems.