After two weeks of workshops and rigorous testing, we are happy to report that Mainnet Rehearsal has officially concluded! The IoTeX Foundation and 50+ IoTeX Delegates worked as a team and we are extremely happy with the process and results, which even exceeded our expectations. Thank you to our amazing Delegates for your efforts and teamwork!
On April 9, IoTeX Foundation hosted Orientation Call #2, the fourth and final Mainnet Rehearsal event. We had 55+ participants that joined our global conference call — the highest attendance of all Mainnet Rehearsal events! This shows the interest and commitment from our Delegates is only getting stronger — we can’t wait to build the future of IoTeX together.
Slides from Orientation Call #2: https://bre.is/tlNCi2ArJ
If you missed our earlier Mainnet Rehearsal events, see our full recaps here:
- Consensus Rehearsal #1: March 27 (Video & Slides)
- Orientation Call #1: March 29 (Video & Slides)
- Consensus Rehearsal #2: April 4 (Video & Slides)
Key Takeaways from Mainnet Rehearsal
The primary goals of Mainnet Rehearsal were to 1) properly train Delegates to run consensus for IoTeX, and 2) pressure test and improve our Mainnet code. Today, Delegates are consistently mining REAL blocks using the REAL Mainnet code on REAL servers. We are proud to report we accomplished both of our primary goals — the Mainnet Rehearsal was a huge success!
Current status of Mainnet Rehearsal blockchain: https://t.iotex.me/chainhealth
IoTeX Mainnet Rehearsal lasted ~2 weeks and included two Consensus Rehearsals (bootstrapping a new blockchain from scratch) and two Orientation Calls (technical workshops from IoTeX Foundation). Throughout the Mainnet Rehearsal, we greatly improved the performance and security of the IoTeX blockchain and helped Delegate setup/optimize their nodes. Key takeaways include:
- Multiple code releases + updates : Mainnet Rehearsal started with Testnet v0.5.0-rc6, and new code releases (rc7, rc8, rc9) were launched every week with bug fixes, new features, and improved performance.
- Load tests and “fire drill” practice : we rapidly injected transactions (300+ finalized TPS) to test the limits of our blockchain, and practiced how to handle rare “fire drill” incidents — practice makes perfect!
- System infrastructure + devops : IoTeX Foundation delivered multiple workshops to help configure and optimize Delegate nodes; recommended setup includes Kubernetes, Envoy, Prometheus, PagerDuty, Keel, and more
- Command line interface (ioctl tool) : we built/improved the ioctl tool, which provides a seamless interface to interact with IoTeX blockchain: account mgmt, wallet, node status, transactions, rewards, and much more. This tool is not only for Delegates — please try it out for yourself!
- Rewards calculation + distribution tools : some of our Delegates, such as InfinityStones, iotxplorer, and IoTASK, created open source tools to help Delegates calculate/distribute rewards and add transparency for voters
- DDoS attack bounty campaign : to really challenge the IoTeX blockchain and our Delegates, we issued a DDoS bounty to identify any weak points and attack vectors. The IoTeX blockchain has held up very well!
Although Mainnet Rehearsal is now over, we will continue to strengthen and improve the IoTeX Network. We encourage ALL community members to test and help improve the IoTeX Mainnet once it is publicly launched.
Next Stop: Mainnet Alpha Launch!
The Mainnet Rehearsal was extremely useful in enhancing our consensus, adding usability for Delegates, and ensuring the real Mainnet can conquer all risks and scenarios. By going through this process, we are extremely confident that our Delegates will be able to grow and maintain the IoTeX Network.
The IoTeX blockchain code is currently being audited by top cybersecurity and formal verification companies. This process is similar to the audits of our staking/voting smart contracts by Certik & SlowMist. It is critical for the future of IoTeX that all security and performance issues are resolved before public Mainnet launch.
The blockchain audit is the final milestone before the public launch of Mainnet Alpha — we will announce to the community once this is completed. Assuming no issues, we plan to finalize and announce the official public Mainnet launch date during the week of April 15.
What else is on the horizon?
The Mainnet Alpha launch is coming soon, but there are also many other exciting things on the way! Some we can share now, and some are top secret to be shared soon. 2019 will be an amazing, action-packed year for IoTeX — here are some things to look forward to:
- Community reward programs ( IoLove , Mainnet video , DDoS ): don’t miss out on your chance to earn IOTX rewards in our three active community reward campaigns! Your participation in the IoLove and Mainnet video campaigns will greatly help us to spread the word about IoTeX Mainnet launch, please participate!
- IoTeX Member Portal : your one-stop shop for all things Blockchain + IoT! We will be educating you on the latest products and giving away IoT devices and IoTeX swag — you must be a Member to access, so make sure to vote today!
- Early staking/voting bonus : these rewards from the IoTeX Foundation will be distributed to voters once Mainnet is launched. We originally intended to give the 30% bonus to the first 1,000 buckets that staked >28 days, but decided to extend the 30% bonus to anyone that staked in March for >28 days! Please remember that you must keep your tokens staked until Mainnet launch to receive the early staking bonus.
Stay tuned to our official channels for more exciting announcements, and please help us spread the news about IoTeX Mainnet! We appreciate your support, let’s build the future together.