Exploring Shared Infrastructure in Hyperledger Fabric

Discover how to manage shared infrastructures in Hyperledger Fabric, including challenges involving multiple MSPs and potential solutions to enhance transaction capabilities.
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Exploring Shared Infrastructure in Hyperledger Fabric: A Practical Guide

In the world of blockchain development, Hyperledger Fabric is known for its versatility and robust architecture. However, organizations may face challenges when trying to implement a shared infrastructure that enables multiple Membership Service Providers (MSPs) to interact seamlessly. In this guide, we will explore the problem of using shared peers in Hyperledger Fabric and provide a detailed solution to enable transactions across different MSPs.

Understanding the Problem

Organizations that want to leverage blockchain technology may sometimes be hesitant to invest in their own dedicated infrastructure. Instead, they might want to utilize a network operated by a facilitator. For instance, consider the following use case:

Network Operator: An organization with MSP org1 has created a Hyperledger Fabric network.

Joining Organization: A second organization, org4, wishes to join this network but does not have its own peers.

The core challenge arises when org4 attempts to invoke chaincode functions on org1's peers. In many cases, there can be restrictions based on the MSP identifiers (MSPs) of the organizations involved.

Real-world Example

The problem can often be observed in error logs when service discovery is enabled. An attempt to retrieve service endpoints leads to the following information, indicating that the invoker’s MSP ID does not match any available endorsers:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The above logs demonstrate how the service discovery mechanism fails when no matching peers exist for the invoker's MSP.

The Solution to Shared Peer Usage

To solve this problem, we need to adjust how the application interacts with the Hyperledger Fabric network. Below are the steps and considerations to enable org4 to utilize org1's peers effectively.

Step 1: Disable Service Discovery

Start by disabling the service discovery feature, as it attempts to match the invoker’s MSP with the available endorsers and leads to failures when no match is found.

Step 2: Specify Endorsing Peers

Next, explicitly provide a list of peers for the transaction. As we see in the following example code snippet, the application targets specific endorsing peers directly:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

In this code:

We query for endorsing peers belonging to org1.

If available, we set those endorsing peers on the transaction before proceeding with invoking the chaincode.

Step 3: Invoke Chaincode Functions

With the correct endorsing peers set, org4 can now invoke chaincode functions successfully as intended. This method ensures that the transaction can continue processing without being impeded by MSP mismatches.

Conclusion

By understanding the complexities involved with shared infrastructures in Hyperledger Fabric and being aware of the limitations with MSPs, organizations can work collaboratively without investing in extensive infrastructure. The above solution not only facilitates transactions among different organizations but also sets a foundation for organizations to migrate to their own infrastructure when ready.

This journey into Hyperledger Fabric's shared infrastructure highlights the potential for simplified collaborations, paving the way for broader adoption of blockchain technologies. If you found this post useful, feel free to share it with others who may benefit from understanding shared infrastructures in blockchain.