Investigating Amazon Managed Blockchain: Make your Web3 Life Easier
Tags: aws, cloud, blockchain
Published: 2023-07-10 08:49:26

Hi Everyone!😊

## How this Post looks like?

Here, I'll be introducing the Amazon Managed Blockchain (AMB), AWS's managed service to fully deploy an operational blockchain. We'll talk about the service, the advantages of it, and provide a Good Practice "sticky note".

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### There are 3 Sections:
- **Amazon Managed Blockchain (AMB)** - A comprehensive look on AMB, and its components.
- **Quirks & Features** - A thorough look on the benefits, and how these are being utilized.
- **Appendix** - Useful Resources to get more in depth with AMB.

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## 0. Amazon Managed Blockchain (AMB) ⛓️

So, what is AMB actually? 
It was first introduced back in 2018 as the managed service to provision a blockchain infrastructure without requiring any development. As a _fully-managed_ service it may be considered as a serverless. Through AMB, you'll have the chance to either join a public network or even create and manage your own private networks. 
AMB **utilizes** both the Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum Frameworks.

For the Web3 builders 🌌, working with the Ethereum framework will do the job for you, as AMB allows you to provision full nodes and connect to the Ethereum public mainnet and testnets. This, gives you big potentials, as you'll may take advantage of all the Ethereum capabilities through AMB.
*NOTE** that AMB's Ethereum Mainnet nodes are running on Ethereum's PoS network.

On the other hand, if your project needs require privacy, and permission controls like financial and internal healthcare applications, knowing who did what, then Hyperledger Fabric 🧷 is your go-to framework.

#### Quick Introduction

Now, how does an AMB network look like? 
As seen in the image below from the official AWS documentation (resource: [Amazon Managed Blockchain Quickstart](https://aws.amazon.com/quickstart/architecture/amazon-managed-blockchain/)), the network is built within a VPC and it is consisted of several members (peer nodes). Each member can have 1-3 instances. Those instances can be distributed across AZs.
Just to have a good explanation of the diagram, if you deploy a blockchain using **Quick Start** with only the default parameters, then it is going to create a network with just one member (the yellowed Member A).

![Amazon Managed Blockchain Network Diagram](https://d1.awsstatic.com/partner-network/QuickStart/datasheets/amazon-managed-blockchain-architecture-diagram.4ba79e264d50b2647c72bfa9cb70fc0a80947a04.png)

_One key thing to notice_: Currently AMB is available in the regions below. This is a dynamic process, so you'll might see more regions being added.

| Region Code    | Region Name                    | Date Added |
| -------------  |:------------------------------:| ----------:|
| us-gov-west-1  | AWS GovCloud (US-West) limited | 2022-09-07 |
| eu-west-2      | Europe (London)                | 2020-09-02 |
| ap-northeast-2 | Asia Pacific (Seoul)           | 2020-03-27 |
| eu-west-1      | Europe (Ireland)               | 2020-03-20 |
| ap-northeast-1 | Asia Pacific (Tokyo)           | 2020-03-13 |
| ap-southeast-1 | Asia Pacific (Singapore)       | 2020-03-06 |
| us-east-1      | US East (N. Virginia)          | 2019-05-22 |

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## 1. Quirks & Features🥼💻

#### 1. Reliability

- On AWS, there are constant client software updates, which means nodes/peers will stay up-to-date and resolve any potential software exploits.
- AMB ensures the delivery of the transactions across the blockchain network. A complete immutable change logs of the transactions is kept and maintained from the AMB, as it utilizes the Amazon QLDB which keeps all uncommitted transactions.

#### 2. Highly Scalable - Secure

- As mentioned, AMB networks are built within a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). AWS provides VPC Endpoints, an entry point from which communication is secured within the blockchain network, but also interacting with other members of your network.
- If there is a need for more resources, users are able to add/remove resources to their blockchain network.
- At the same time, within AMB, you are able to utilize the AWS Key Management Service which secures the communications within the blockchain network. Moreover, AWS infrastructure provides its own hardware security modules (HSM).

#### 3. Fault-Tolerant

- AMB is monitored and can replace any broken node/peer whenever it is detected (24/7).
- At the same time, you may utilize AWS's monitoring services (AWS CloudWatch, AWS Inspector, AWS Guard etc.) and be proactive on any issues that might occur.

#### 4. Other

- AMB comes with a Free-tier which anyone can use through the **STARTER**pack.
- Also, tons of integration capabilities while using the _AWS CLI and SDK_ , but also the _Hyperledger SDK and CLI_ .
- Last, AMB supports HCLTech OBOL Tokenization.

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## 2. Appendix 📚

Below, you'll find a few tips and a table of resources for your reference.

### Tips 💡
- **Sandbox** 🕹️: If you want to experiment with AMB, **Quick Start + Starter Edition** will be the optimal solution, as it provisions the least amount of resources (dropping the cost), utilizing the Free Tier which is available.

- **Cost Optimization** 💸: As in every situation, please enable the AWS Cost and Usage Report and have limits for your expenses. That way, you want get any additional surprises in your bank account :).

- **Clean Up** 🧹: Once done experimenting, do not forget to clean up, and to do so, members should not be peered, as you won't be allowed to delete them (as per blockchains' functionality).

- **Storage** 🗄️: For anyone that might have stubbled upon this, as the name implies Amazon Quantum Ledger Database (QLDB) is a database to keep a verifiable and trusted history of all the data changes in an environment. AMB allows all participated parties to make transparent transactions securely without the need of a central authority.

- **Developing Cost** 💲💲: Cost wise, using AMB might be more cost-efficient for you, your team or your company, as you are saving up cost on personnel and resources from developing your blockchain infrastructure from scratch.

### Resources 🥫:
| Resource Name | Link      |
| ------------  |:---------:|
| Amazon Managed Blockchain Setup Tutorial (YT) | [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r0P0uLhvKU&ab_channel=AWSTrainingProgram) |
| AWS re:Invent 2021 - When to use blockchain (YT) | [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkjkUzCgvkM&ab_channel=AWSEvents) |
| AWS Summit ANZ 2022 - Build and scale a Web3 startup (YT) | [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcwuTkN15Uc&ab_channel=AWSEvents) |
| AWS AMER Summit May 2021 - Build blockchain apps with Ethereum and Hyperledger (YT) | [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ODFWZTxczI&ab_channel=AWSEvents) |


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I hope that you'll find this post useful and it will help you understand the Amazon Managed Blockchain Service. You are more than welcome to add any comment if you have doubts or questions (or any suggestions!). 🙏