How do IBM Blockchain Platform and Hyperledger Fabric relate

Hyperledger Fabric

Hyperledger Fabric is an open-source framework used to implement enterprise standard blockchain applications. It is a permissioned blockchain that overcomes public blockchain issues like scalability, privacy, access control, and performance. Hyperledger Fabric is targeted toward enterprises, and for that, it contains modular components like assetsAnything defined to have a value during a transaction between two or more enterprises., shared ledger, smart contractA piece of code written in GO language that executes business logic on the blockchain., certificate authorityAuthority responsible for adding new nodes to the permissioned blockchain, the certificates also specify the access that the users have of the blockchain., and ordering service. These components can be added and personalized according to the needs of the enterprise.

IBM Blockchain Platform

IBM Blockchain Platform is the commercialized version of Hyperledger Fabric which takes advantage of its core functionalities, for example, modularity, access control, and privacy. The main advantage of IBM's Blockchain Platform over the Hyperledger Fabric is that it makes it easier to set up the network and enables blockchain to be used as a service, therefore introducing the concept of BaaSBlockchain as a Service.

How do they relate?

The properties that the IBM Blockchain Platform shares with the Hyperledger Fabric are as follows:

• Identity management: A certificate authority is used to provide access to the permissioned blockchain. Each organization has a root certificate that has complete access. Furthermore, each organization has peers with certificates with different blockchain access levels. This allows organizations to provide different employees with varying levels of access.
• Processing power: They are private blockchains and do not need computationally intensive consensus algorithms. The consensus algorithms these blockchains use need less processing power, increasing the transactions per second of the whole network.
• Privacy: IBM Blockchain Platform is a private blockchain, so all the network nodes are verified before being added to the network. However, competitor organizations can still see another company's data within the same blockchain network. To tackle this issue, IBM's Blockchain platform uses channels to allow companies to perform transactions with other companies privately within the same blockchain network.
• Chaincode functionality: It allows companies to implement their business logic to perform transactions. This business logic is written in smart contracts, mostly in the GO language. They are responsible for validating and verifying the transactions before executing them.
• Modular design: This property allows organizations to personalize the blockchain network. It allows them to choose the components and their settings. It ranges from choosing the consensus algorithm to giving different levels of access to the nodes using the certificate authority.