## 7 Architecture Design of a Blockchain-Based Solution
### Hyperledger Fabric  
Hyperledger is a permissioned blockchain infrastructure that emerged in early 2016 as a robust solution tailored to business and industry needs. Originally named Open-Blockchain and later rebranded, Hyperledger, initiated by the Linux Foundation, functions as a framework, meaning that it is neither a blockchain nor a company. It is devised to offer deployment solutions for business infrastructure, utilizing blockchain technology to enhance operational efficiency. With the collaboration of approximately 100 companies, Hyperledger is an ongoing project fostering consistency and developing industry-driven blockchain applications to better meet business demands.  
Within the Hyperledger umbrella, various projects and frameworks exist, with Hyperledger Fabric being one of them. Serving as a permissioned blockchain network, Hyperledger Fabric is established by organizations forming a consortium. Each member organization in this network configures their peers for network participation, implementing an access control mechanism to regulate information visibility among peers as needed [51].  
Hyperledger Fabric, a cryptocurrency-free blockchain framework, operates on a permissioned network with restricted access. Its modular design simplifies the setup of business-specific blockchain infrastructure, emphasizing security through the Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) algorithm. Using chain code for smart contracts, the framework employs Docker for containerization, ensuring modularity and portability. The voting-based consensus mechanism in Hyperledger Fabric, comprising endorsement, ordering, and validation phases, facilitates efficient and secure transaction processing. Notably, the mechanism considers users' hierarchical roles, incorporating access control lists and identity verification at each channel point [52].  
It is crucial to acknowledge that platform selection involves trade-offs, and no framework is flawless. We have compared five leading permissioned blockchain technologies--Hyperledger Fabric, Ethereum, Quorum, MultiChain, and R3 Corda--considering consensus type, smart contracts, open source, support and governance, and cryptocurrency enablement [50]. Hyperledger Fabric offers cross-industry solutions instead of finance-only solutions. For the assessment of these permissioned blockchain frameworks, five metrics have been considered: latency, throughput, scalability, privacy, and adoption. Fabric, Ethereum, Quorum, Multichain, and Corda have, respectively, an average grade of 4.2, 3.3,2.2, 2, and 2.2 [53]. Hyperledger Fabric stands out as first in terms of privacy, latency, and throughput and second in scalability and adoption.  
The growing number of Hyperledger Fabric's use cases as well as government-related applications, as shown in Table 4, are visible proof of the tool's maturity and the strength of the developer community around it [54], making it a go-to framework when investigating blockchain adoption in enterprises. Its plug-and-play design provides unlimited network configuration options.  
Moreover, various researchers have covered Hyperledger Fabric comparisons with other frameworks such as Hyperledger Sawtooth, ConsenSys Quorum, GoQuorum, Hyperledger Besu, Endeavor Ethereum, Openchain, Graphene, Exonum, etc. [54; 55; 56].