Acquaintance with Solana

Among the popular blockchain networks of the old and new generation, the Solana blockchain stands out noticeably for its unique technological solution

22:41 26 June 2024

Features of Solana

Among the popular blockchain networks of the old and new generation, the Solana blockchain stands out noticeably for its unique technological solutions. First of all, we are talking about an innovative approach to the usual Proof of Stake (PoS) by adding Proof of History (PoH) consensus algorithm. Another difference of Solana is that the network imposes less stringent requirements on its validators than in networks with a similar consensus mechanism.

It so happened that many developers were initially unenthusiastic about Solana, considering it an ordinary altcoin. However, over time, it became clear that this third-generation blockchain is convenient, interesting, and supports the development of decentralized applications (DApps) and smart contracts. That is, any user can create their own DApps, using the power of Solana, and paying a commission for transactions. There are often situations in which individual users or entire companies cannot afford the costs of maintaining their own blockchain nodes. Using a Nodes as a Service (NaaS) approach, they turn to the cloud provider https://rpcfast.com/dedicated-solana-nodes.

Solana has become a tempting choice for many users today. The reason for this lies in the main features of the network, such as low fees, impressively high transaction speeds and good scaling capabilities. The Solana blockchain is an open network, which means that anyone can open the official Solana website, where the history of all transactions is stored, as well as any network account and see information about completed transactions. Of course, not everyone considers such openness as a positive sign of the network. However, this indicator of decentralization works well in many processes, especially those related to financial activities. Not the least factor that attracts users to this network is its environmental friendliness, which is due to the new operating principles of Solana.

Advantages of Solana

It was said above that Solana used a new consensus algorithm in her work - PoH. Let us recall that, based on the principles of decentralization of blockchain networks, any transaction can be included in a block only if it is approved by all network participants, that is, consensus is reached. Different blockchain networks use a different set of rules, or algorithm, which should ensure their network consensus. Solana combined two mechanisms in her approach, adding to the traditional PoS factor the time variable PoH. This allowed the network to get away from the classic blockchain problem, in which, in order to enter any transaction into a block, nodes must agree on a time among themselves. In contrast of this Solana adds time stamps to all blocks, which allows the correct time order to be maintained. This principle is based on the fact that the hash and sequence number of each action are formed based on real time. In other words, each node receives its own cryptographic clock. It is thanks to PoH that the speed of Solana transactions is many times higher than that in other blockchain networks, without causing any damage to the decentralization and security of the network.

Solana has one more feature that makes it unlike other similar blockchains - its smart contracts. Solana smart contract codes are not written in the traditional Solidity language, but using the low-level software language Rust. Compared to Solidity, Rust is a more complex language; to use it, the developer needs more in-depth knowledge. At the same time, the developer does not have the opportunity to come in some other smart contract and copy its code. This feature of Rust fits well with the requirements for commercial projects, when someone stranger is deprived of the opportunity to copy the unique application code.

Solana's problems

Despite the obvious advantages of the Solana blockchain, this network also has its disadvantages. One of the indicators of Solana that has repeatedly caused disappointment among users is its uptime. Situations periodically arose when the network spent quite a lot of time on executing some complex parallel processes, which caused its throughput to decrease quite significantly. Users also have questions about Solana’s decentralization, which in practice does not always meet their expectations. At some problematic moments, instructions to validators about the procedure for their actions appear on Solana’s page on the social network. The “holy war” was caused by the hypothetical possibility of using cloud platforms by 60% of the network validators, which could potentially lead to a violation of the principle of decentralization, and therefore to the collapse of the network. Of course, Solana’s work is complicated by the high requirements for validator’s infrastructure, who must have very powerful equipment. Moreover every new validator must start his work only on the Testnet. And after he shows good results and a high rating on the Testnet he can be transferred to the Mainnet.