The Latest from ThreeFold - Foundation

🔗Simplicity is the key to unlock a better future

Over time, integration suites, middleware solutions, and enterprise service busses have been invented and implemented to cover integration challenges within the current internet. This has further complicated IT architectures, resulting in a loss of actual end user workload performance.

ThreeFold reworked the whole approach to IT architectures and eliminated the layers of complexity. The result is a cloud stack that presents minimal overhead and that requires less hardware – reducing heat generation and eventually cooling requirements. By reducing the need for power, the net result is an energy-efficient Internet grid.

🔗Improving resilience and efficiency through Self-Healing IT

Keeping systems up and running is a major requirement in modern day IT. Leading vendors earn most of their margin by selling maintenance contracts, performance guarantees, and professional services. Their business models bring no incentive to make things simple and efficient for consumers.

Creating a self-healing environment requires only minimal manual intervention to replace broken hardware components. Broken hardware components are inevitable, and the Zero-OS distributed node architecture deals with such failures by turning off broken components and provisioning unused capacity. By removing the need to ship broken parts back and forth, and linking to the corresponding installation knowledge (engineers), a lower carbon footprint can be achieved.

🔗“No painkiller” approach. We tackle the root issue

If a specific piece of software or hardware is not delivering the required performance or reliability, we should analyze the core design/algorithm and its usage of soft/hard components to determine the root causes of persistent issues to be solved.

Currently, most storage vendors follow the path of least resistance when trying to improve on performance. Their solution for meeting performance targets is to use faster components (CPU, memory, network card, proprietary acceleration) rather than looking at the core algorithms that drive the utilization of those components. Swapping components for faster ones perpetuates a cycle of cutting corners and focuses reliance on innovation from hardware component providers rather than solving the more fundamental and underlying issues. That’s a “painkiller” approach.

Zero-OS was designed to solve root problem issues by design. While still using high-performance hardware components on the ThreeFold Grid, the algorithm of Zero-OS maximizes utilization possibilities. This enables greater performance and sustainability. Some key examples how this is achieved:

🔗Eliminating unnecessary elements from standard architectures

Virtualization adds a layer of software between the actual end-user workload and physical hardware. It also allows for multiple workloads to run on the same hardware by using excess capacity. There is definitely merit in building a virtualization solution. Building an effective virtualization solution that does not require abundant context switching is key and this is why Zero-OS has been developed. Zero-OS uses a minimal Linux kernel that allows for a number of user spaces to co-exist. In these user spaces, containerized versions of software can be run, eliminating the need for hypervisors, virtual OS to fuel the virtual machines, and guest operating systems. This also minimizes the required overhead for the host OS.

🔗Minimizing network connections usage

Supercomputing delivered many new technologies. But, not all of them are usable solutions for everyday workloads. One technology invented to make supercomputers performant is the use of Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA). RDMA allowed physical CPU boards (containing both CPUs and memory) to access other CPU boards in memory stored data over a dedicated channel. This eliminated the need to transport data between CPU nodes over network connections (or other mainstream means to exchange data). The result was a considerable reduction in overhead created when allowing distributed end user workloads to operate over multiple physical cores. The leading server and storage solutions brands have never considered nor implemented such mechanisms. This resulted in an increased need for faster networks - increasing complexity, costs, efforts and resources needed to operate solutions.

RDMA is only used in certified farms and requires involvement of TFTech.

🔗Minimizing disk usage

The storage solution uses slow and big (the bigger the better) HDD disks which drive in rack density. As they spin slower they consume less power and need less cooling. But then, how can you deal with read/write intensive workloads? The storage algorithm uses a SSD cache to acknowledge Inputs/Outputs coming from the applications, fills the erasure coded data blocks in large (up to 64MB) storage containers and writes the big chunks of data on the big and slow HHDs. If you are familiar with HDD disks, you know they like to be streamed on instead of having a lot of small bits written in a scratchy way.

Continuous innovation in all of these areas are leading to an efficient technology stack.

🔗So, ThreeFold is building a new internet. Why?

We strongly believe that a new internet is needed for our planet and for humanity. “If not now, when? If not us, who?”

What it boils down to is that currently the internet is only available to about 1/2 of the world (meaning billions are being left behind), it is centralized (a handful of large corporations own and profit off of our data), and it uses up to 10% of the world’s energy consumption. So, we’re building a new (peer-to-peer) internet that empowers equality (access), autonomy (data ownership, for example), and sustainability (reduces energy consumption). These values drive us forward.

🔗How does it work?

Everything on the internet – websites, apps, photos, videos, etc – uses up capacity and is stored in huge data centers owned by big companies, mainly in North America, Europe, and some in Asia. In our solution, centralized data centers are replaced with a grid of “nodes” distributed around the world.

These nodes are owned by ThreeFold Farmers – but only the physical hardware – the data inside of the nodes belongs to the people or organizations who put it there. So, “farmers” plug in hardware and start to create capacity that can be used by people.

Farmers come in all shapes and sizes. Some farmers run small data centers while others simply run a node out of their living room.

When Farmers connect active hardware (add capacity) to the ThreeFold Grid, ThreeFold Tokens are created. Farmers can then sell those tokens to people who want to use capacity (e.g. a developer that wants to build or host a website, or a person who wants to store some photos). More on tokens down below.

🔗Seems quite lofty. How will you build it?

It’s true that rebuilding the internet is not so simple. But a lot of infrastructure has already been built and the technology is quite advanced. Over the past 2+ years (as of May 2020), independent ThreeFold Farmers have already plugged in more than 40,000,000 GigaBytes worth of storage and 15,000 CPU Cores across 21+ countries. That might not mean a lot to non-technical folks but it is quite a significant amount.

🔗21+ countries? What happened to equality?

As far along as we are, we still have work to do. One of our biggest goals in the near future is to expand the grid to Africa, South America, and parts of Asia where currently the Internet is too expensive or not available. Currently, we farming is incentivized around these key geographies.

🔗And what do you mean by peer-to-peer?

Peer-to-peer means no middlemen – direct exchange of information and/or value between equal participants. Peer-to-peer means decentralization – breaking away from pyramid-based systems, greed-based systems – and putting people back in the center of their own (digital) lives.

🔗So how can I access / use your internet today? What can I do on it?

By June, some of the first experiences will be live. This includes file storage and communication tools and a virtual browser, all with the advantages of being more sustainable for our planet and with full control of your own data. And over time, more and more experiences will come to this internet. We’ll be updating here and on our communication platforms as they come. But don’t worry, as a user it doesn’t change much – no coding required. :)

🔗Will [enter website or app here] be available on your internet?

There are some tremendous reasons for a website or app to use our internet, but that will really be up to the website or the app. In the end, we are providing a responsible solution for responsible people and organizations. We would love to host anybody who believes in what we are doing!

🔗How are you making sure it’s safe?

Hacking has become a part of life and is almost impossible to avoid in the current systems – they are too complex and require too many people to operate. This results in less security which results in lots of security breaches. We took a look at the existing Internet (seven layers) and simplified it down to three layers. By simplifying the architecture and instead creating technology that is self-driving & self-healing, we removed the human requirement and therefore vastly minimized the possibility for hacking or human error. Then we also developed a storage algorithm which makes it such that if some of the information gets lost or stolen (somehow) or if some hardware goes down, it is all retrievable. Long story short, we flipped the existing system on its head.

🔗What about the data ownership part?

That has a bit to do with the security as well. Since you own your data, you decide who gets access. Which means your data isn’t just out “there” for the taking. Basically, we put you at the center of your digital life, where the applications and experiences you use serve you, not the other way around.

🔗And how is it better for the planet?

There are a few reasons for us being more sustainable. Data centers are super unsustainable, so the simple (but incomplete) answer is “no more huge data centers.” But if you want more detail:

• We use up to 3x less hardware for the same output, and using hardware at least 2x longer while maintaining good performance
• Having capacity everywhere, local to where users are – this reduces network requirements (and can even improve security)
• Using new algorithms (e.g. the one mentioned above for storage) which have dramatic efficiency improvement
• Re-using hardware where possible – let’s not throw away

🔗How much will it cost?

In the end we want to provide sustainable access to the internet and all of its solutions for less than a dollar per month per person but for now the cost will depend on what you choose to do. Certain experiences will cost money. Storing photos or videos, for example. But all at a fair price.

🔗Speaking of money – so what’s up with the ThreeFold Token?

As we mentioned above, tokens are generated when ThreeFold Farmers adds capacity to the ThreeFold Grid.

Essentially, the ThreeFold Token is the medium of exchange on the new internet. So, if a developer wants to build something (e.g. a website or an app) or a user wants to store something (e.g. photos), he/she/they use(s) ThreeFold Tokens.

🔗Need more answers?

We hope that helps explains things. Obviously there is a whole wiki to dive in to. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, please ask us on our forum!

Photo by Nong Vang on Unsplash.

🔗Values-First

At ThreeFold, we are driven by three main values:

• Equality is the foundation for a fair world where everyone is given the opportunity to be empowered and to achieve their full potential.
• Freedom of thought, opinion, creativity and faith are fundamentals to achieve peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential.
• Sustainability ensures the future of life on earth. It is about adopting the behavior and mindset to minimize our footprint.
  
  Let’s take a deeper look.

🔗Internet Access | A Human Right

In 2016, the United Nations officially declared Internet access to be a human right. The right to internet access aims to protect people’s freedom of expression and opinion, as well as other fundamentals such as access to knowledge and information.

Yet as of today, about 48% of humanity remains unconnected to the Internet, creating huge inequalities in the access to information and knowledge. It is important that the right steps are taken to improve the relationship between governments and citizens and to uphold all human rights.

To make the new internet accessible and equal to all, ThreeFold built with ThreeFold Farmers an infrastructure that is affordable to all and collectively owned by the network peers. To ensure a fair and equal distribution of the internet to everyone, fully sponsored capacity will be deployed in remote regions of our world.

🔗Digital Freedom | For Everyone

The Internet evolved to become the world’s largest database of information and knowledge, opening up exponential growth on personal, organizational and economic levels. Yet it is owned by large international companies that exploits users data.

The current approach of many governments and countries is to cut the Internet into pieces by limiting its accessibility and enforcing regulations. We need an internet that protects our digital freedom and fair access to global information for everyone, everywhere.

ThreeFold is a peer-to-peer internet — owned by the users. All the technology of this new internet is open-source and the whole experience is built around the fundamentals of a peer-to-peer network. On this new internet, everyone owns their data and experiences — digital freedom.

🔗A Green Internet | For Our Planet

The current internet consumes about 10% of global energy production. With the imminent boom of emerging technologies such as Blockchain, Internet of Things, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and 5G, the Internet’s energy consumption is expected to increase exponentially.

The current industry solutions focuses on increasing the use of renewable energies to power data centers. However this is not a viable solution as data centers consume enormous amounts of energy. Therefore, a new solution that can drastically reduce the global internet’s energy consumption is needed.

ThreeFold is the first true peer-to-peer Internet. It uses pioneering technologies that remove the need for centralized and power-hungry data centers, consumes 90% less energy, and uses 90% less international fibre network capacity.

If not now, when? If not us, who?

Photo by Yannis H on Unsplash.

🔗How are ThreeFold Tokens created?

No ThreeFold Tokens have ever been minted. ThreeFold Tokens are generated through a process called “Farming”. Farming happens when active internet capacity is added to the ThreeFold Grid. Independent farmers earn ThreeFold Tokens (TFT) by providing neutral and decentralized internet capacity, thus expending the usable Grid. Therefore no central entity controls the internet.

🔗5 good reasons to buy ThreeFold Tokens

1. TFTs are exclusively generated when new capacity is added to the TF Grid. There are no centralized issuers. Tokens have not been created out of thin air.
2. While the ThreeFold Grid can expand, a maximum of 4 Billion TFTs can ever be in circulation. This limit ensures stability of value and incentivization for all stakeholders.
3. TFT lives on the Stellar Blockchain. TFT holders benefit from a big ecosystem of proven wallets and mediums of exchange.
4. By employing Stellar technology, TFT transactions and smart contracts are powered by one of the most energy-efficient blockchains available. Furthermore, TFT is the medium of exchange on the greenest internet network in the world.
5. The market for farming, cultivating and trading TFT is open to all. Anyone with internet connection, power supply and necessary hardware can become a Farmer or trade ThreeFold tokens (TFT).
6. By buying, holding, and utilizing ThreeFold Tokens, you are actively supporting the expansion of the ThreeFold Grid and its use cases — creating a more sustainable, fair, and equally accessible Internet.
   
   

To learn more about the token, please dive into our wiki.

Important note: TFTs are not an investment instrument. It is the medium of exchange on the ThreeFold Grid, and is a mechanism to enable the Internet we believe is possible.

🔗Internet capacity needs to become localized

A big majority of users in the world connect to servers that are not present in their region and as such experience higher costs and low performance. According to a study by datacentermap.com, 80% of the data centers of the current Internet’s service providers are based in the U.S. and Europe. The rest of the world has scarce Internet resources dotted around territories.

As a consequence most Internet users use Internet-based services running on infrastructure which is located far away from their physical location and most likely outside their country’s borders. This decreases the general end-user experience (latency) but also adds unnecessary costs to transporting the information back and forth. Also, it adds legislation and compliance headaches to enterprises.

Our mission is to empower and inspire people to recognize abundance by living new experiences one hour at a time.

🔗The Internet needs to perform better

Compute and Storage vendors create poor-performing solutions. There have been yearly improvements in hardware following Moore’s law. While this has allowed ThreeFold to progress and innovate, it has also led to software developers taking these advances for granted; cutting corners where they can, creating sub-optimal code and allowing software components to be layered on top of each other to achieve certain behavioral functionalities.

The inefficiencies have now led to a situation where organically-grown IT architectures are immensely complex. They use a variety of components from different software and hardware vendors integrated by so called ‘integrators’. The overall effort and cost involved to create, operate and maintain such architectures is growing continuously and requiring an ever-increasing budget and resourcing to continue.

If we could go down to the core algorithms and take another look at these, and innovate at the heart of technology instead of applying patches and pain killers, we would be able to create much more end-user capacity than what systems provide today. Systems will last longer and will not have to be replaced by faster ones. Also, fewer engineers will be needed to create, operate and maintain these systems. Combined, these elements would present a more stable and reliable platform that can achieve higher levels of uptime.

Only upsides, right? Well a huge downside of such an approach is that vendors will make less revenue and more importantly less margin as systems will run for longer, be more stable and require less updates. So why would vendors innovate at the core of their solution?

🔗The Internet needs to become more sustainable

Did you know that the current Internet is responsible for between 5 and 10% of global energy consumptions? Making it more harmful to our planet than the airline Industry. The good news is that we can achieve 10x more power efficiency by addressing certain areas such as storage.

ThreeFold believes IT can do a much better job at being more sustainable - in fact ThreeFold believes it can reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint by 10 times compared to other industry standards in IT capacity producing solutions.

Power consumption is a function of better compute and storage performance that in theory would require more racks and cooling. ThreeFold’s architectural approach brought solutions that enables it’s Farmers to achieve roughly 3 times the performance per rack (so it uses fewer racks) and the racks require less energy than typical racks in the industry.

Read more about how ThreeFold achieves sustainability in the following blog.

🔗The Internet needs to become more affordable

The biggest cost in running IT architectures is the human cost. Today’s complex systems, built out of ‘band aid and patches’ point solutions, organically-grown and badly documented IT infrastructures, need an armada of people to keep them ticking. Even though this is an example, one can learn a lot from the trends that are presented:

• On average an IT budget takes 5% of overall revenues
• IT consumes 6.5% of the total number of Full-time equivalent in the company, of which 85% are insourced and 15% on payroll. This means that the enterprise doesn’t retain internal know-how to operate their IT.
• About 50% of IT budgets are spent on Infrastructure ane operations. Similarly, a big part goes to applications. A mere 5% is considered to be internal overhead within the IT department.
• Around 65% of the IT budget is spent on resources and services, around 35% is spent on hardware and software.
  
  These figures present industry average numbers and paint a troubling picture that IT is a sizeable part of an overall budget, and that most spending is going to have the right knowledge skills insourced to the organisation to run the core IT architecture it relies on. For any other discipline in any organisation this would present an unacceptable risk to the business and its continuity - strangely not for IT.

🔗The Internet needs to become self-healing

The biggest source of downtime in computer systems is people. Getting people involved in fixing infrastructure problems creates the risk of accidentally causing more system downtime. A very recent example on this hit a large organisation cloud service provider.

20+ years ago when Internet data centers came into existence next to telecom points of presence (POP), the level of complication in architecting, and building and maintaining these infrastructures exploded. From an already reasonable complicated technology setup to transport packets of data around the globe, these information warehouses were created where data was uploaded to, processed, and the obtained results sent back to end users on the other side of the globe.

Managing a data center that contains solutions for information transportation, storage and processing is not an easy task and the growth of data volume uploaded, stored and processed has exponentially increased. The number of technologies invented and implemented in regards to the processing and storing of information has also exploded. This resulted in a double exponential growth in complexity to architect, build, operate and maintain these IT systems.

The time has come that we no longer rely on people to do the right thing in case of emergency - the complexity is overwhelming and the dependency on the availability of that information is huge. Having people to do manual deployments and operational responsibilities does not provide the agility and speed to keep up with the continuous exponential growth of the industry. It is time to take the human element out of IT and let smart and autonomous systems to take over. This will also let people focus on more creative activities.

🔗The world needs a responsible internet

On a humanitarian level the opportunities for creativity, learning and development are currently negatively influenced by a lack of access to performant and affordable Internet services. Since Internet access is a human right, it should protect the status quo between the developed and less-developed regions of our world.

🔗The Internet is growing fast, with the wrong solutions

It is evident that the current solutions are super unsustainable and make no sense. Luckily, ThreeFold and many other start-ups are deploying new solutions.

Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash.

🔗You are unique

During a gathering with some friends, I noticed something that made me think about how important it is what we’re doing at ThreeFold.

One of my friends was complaining about how he couldn’t log in to one of his social media platforms, because all of his passwords are different and he forgot which one he used for this particular platform. Another friend was saying how she tagged her sister on a funny meme, but her sister couldn’t find it on Facebook. Turns out she tagged her on Instagram. And then one of them said something that I keep hearing more and more from people, “Why do we have so many apps, I can’t find anything anymore!”

We exist so many times online, but why? There is only one me in the real world. Why should there not be only one me online? Why should I have 25 different profiles on 25 different platforms, with 25 different logins, when I am unique?

That is another dilemma that ThreeFold has a solution for, with its autonomous technology. 3Bot - a digital avatar like no other, that basically handles your entire online life. The focus lies on digital privacy, where only you can access your data, and no one else. The 3Bot has all the functionalities you need to interact and exchange information and value, there will be no need for that many applications on your device anymore. With 3Bot, everything changes.

The 3Bot is built on the ThreeFold Grid, and has the same values as ThreeFold. Freedom, Equality, and Sustainability. It is important that your data is safe, and what can be safer than you being the only one who not only has access to it, but also the only one who owns that data? Your online world should not be that different from your offline world. In your offline world, you are the center of your own life. That is what ThreeFold is doing with the 3Bot, putting you in the center of your online life, too.

One decentralized application, one digital wallet, one login and one you. Because you’re unique.

Have questions? Feel free to ask us on our forum!

Photo by Jessica Ruscello on Unsplash.