Bigchaindb: Tendermint Integration

[jaekwon]

Here's an issue to discuss potential integration w/ TMSP.

The purpose of TMSP is to separate the concerns of blockchain BFT network & security from the business logic of the application itself. Tendermint Core orders the transaction bytes into a blockchain, and speaks to the TMSP application. (see more)

What it provides for BigchainDB:

• Provides the best BFT solution.
• Addresses #123, #77, #131, probably #134, and also helps with #127
• Partially solves #126 with the "InitChain" and "EndBlock" TMSP messages.
• Probably some more that aren't on the Roadmap page.

Integration would require creating a TMSP server in Python. We used to have a Python server but this was before TMSP used Protobuf, so we'll have to re-implement it.

In an example deployment, there would be a network of connected Tendermint Core instances, each running 1-to-1 alongside BigchainDB app instances. The BigchainDB can expose its own RPC endpoints, can handle state persistence, etc, so integration is straightforward.

[Xoccam]

Nice Work :)

[ttmc]

Yesterday we had a call with @jaekwon and others to discuss ways that BigchainDB might work with Tendermint. There are a some intriguing options and we'll definitely be exploring this further.

[ttmc]

@jaekwon We may use Tendermint or TMSP to provide some functionality (and in fact I have one specific use in mind), but that will get its own issue or set of issues as needed.

[janhon]

is there any update on the status of this ?

[sbellem]

@janhon well, ..., just in case you still wondered. We're now working on it!

/cc @vrde

[ttmc]

@jaekwon @Xoccam @janhon - BigchainDB 2.0 Alpha was released today and it uses Tendermint for consensus, replication, sync, etc. You can read more about that in my blog post "BigchainDB 2.0 is Byzantine Fault Tolerant".