区块链与分布式账本技术有何区别

The terms blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) are very often used as synonyms. Guess what: They’re not! So if you don’t want to look like a weirdo in front of your colleagues, read on.

术语区块链和分布式分类帐技术 (DLT)通常被用作同义词。 猜猜是什么：他们不是！ 因此，如果您不想在同事面前看起来像个怪人，请继续阅读。

什么是分布式分类帐技术？ (What Is Distributed Ledger Technology?)

DLT is a way of storing information. Let’s analyze it word by word.

DLT是一种存储信息的方式。 让我们逐字地分析它。

分布式分类帐技术的简要历史 (A brief history of distributed ledger technology)

So first, there’s ledger. A long time ago, when people had no idea about the internet, electronic cash registers, and other wibbly-wobbly hi-tech, they’d put information about their transactions in a regular book called a ledger.

首先，有分类帐。 很久以前，当人们对互联网，电子收银机和其他摇摇欲坠的高科技一无所知时，他们将有关交易的信息存储在一本称为分类帐的常规书中。

Imagine: You go to a bank to ask for a credit, and the clerk makes a record on paper about how much money you took and when you need to restore it.

想象一下：您去银行索取信贷，店员在纸上记录了您的消费金额以及何时需要恢复。

Is there any problem with storing information like this? There’s a bunch of them, of course.

这样存储信息有什么问题吗？ 当然有很多。

• Theft: Anyone can steal a ledger, deleting or changing the information. This can be done by your creditor, other bank employees, or even you.

  盗窃：任何人都可以窃取分类帐，删除或更改信息。 这可以由您的债权人，其他银行雇员甚至您来完成。

• Human factor: It’s easy to write $100,000 instead of $10,000 intentionally or by mistake, which will be an unpleasant surprise for you as a borrower.

  人为因素：刻意或错误地写出100,000美元而不是10,000美元很容易，这对您作为借款人来说是令人不愉快的惊喜。

• Force majeure. All the recordings can get destroyed by natural reasons, like a flood or a fire.

  不可抗力 。 所有录音可能由于自然原因而被破坏，例如洪水或大火。

The thing is keeping records on a regular server or cloud database today isn’t much different in terms of security than just storing it on paper. Someone can hack it, or the server can crash by itself (the problem of single point of failure).

重要的是，就安全性而言，将记录保存在常规服务器或云数据库上与仅将其存储在纸上没有太大区别。 有人可以对其进行破解，否则服务器可能会自行崩溃(单点故障的问题)。

So keeping all the eggs in one basket isn’t a good solution. What shall we do?

因此，将所有鸡蛋都放在一个篮子里并不是一个好的解决方案。 我们该怎么办？

Make copies.

复印。

This is where the word distributed steps into the game.

这是单词分发进入游戏的地方。

Distributed means the information from the book is kept, administered, and used by all members. It’s still a book — or to be more precise, a database — but it’s spread across all the participants of the DLT network. These are also things called nodes.

分发意味着书中的信息由所有成员保存，管理和使用。 它仍然是一本书，或者更确切地说是数据库，但是它散布在DLT网络的所有参与者中。 这些也称为节点。

How do you ensure the same data is seen across the network without any central authority in power?

您如何确保在没有任何中央授权的情况下在网络上看到相同的数据？

In 1991, the researchers Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta asked themselves the same question. They proposed practical methods for timestamping digital data.

1991年，研究人员Stuart Haber和W. Scott Stornetta向自己问了同样的问题。 他们提出了为数字数据加上时间戳的实用方法 。

Follow their logic:

遵循他们的逻辑：

• In the digital world, everything is modifiable. Usually, you have no chance to see whether the data was changed. To fight this, you need to timestamp the information so all the changes can be trackable.
  在数字世界中，一切都是可修改的。 通常，您没有机会查看数据是否已更改。 为了解决这个问题，您需要给信息打上时间戳，以便可以跟踪所有更改。
• You need to timestamp actual bits of content, not the moment when the file that stores this data was created.
  您需要标记内容的实际位，而不是创建存储该数据的文件的时间。
• Also, the date and time of the timestamp must not be forgeable. The scientists introduce hashes and digital signatures as possible means to solve this problem.
  同样，时间戳记的日期和时间也不能伪造。 科学家介绍了哈希和数字签名作为解决此问题的可能方法。

These principles basically gave birth to DLT.

这些原则基本上催生了DLT。

In 2002, David Mazières and Dennis Shasha continued to develop the concept, studying how to store data in blocks. They were working on a protocol of a multiuser network file system called the Secure Untrusted Data Repository (SUNDR). The fruits of their work laid the ground for the blockchain of today. After the appearance and spread of blockchain, the history of DLT became the history of blockchain.

2002年，DavidMazières和Dennis Shasha继续开发该概念，研究如何在块中存储数据。 他们正在研究一种称为“安全不受信任的数据存储库(SUNDR)”的多用户网络文件系统的协议。 他们的工作成果为当今的区块链奠定了基础。 随着区块链的出现和传播，DLT的历史成为了区块链的历史 。

In a distributed ledger system, all nodes have their copy of the ledger and update information independently.

在分布式分类帐系统中，所有节点均具有其分类帐副本并独立更新信息。

To make a change, they need to go through a mechanism of consensus where the nodes collectively agree for the change to be introduced. This is how we make sure that the copy of the ledger is the same in all the nodes.

要进行更改，他们需要经历一种共识机制，其中节点共同同意要引入的更改。 这就是我们确保所有节点中分类帐的副本相同的方式。

There is a multitude of ways to do this. The choice of the consensus mechanism depends on how much of a tolerance for faulty actors you’d like your system to have (and several other constraints). While consensus can technically be achieved with just a vector clock, it is much more popular to use protocols like Paxos and pBFT.

有很多方法可以做到这一点。 共识机制的选择取决于您希望系统对错误的行为者有多大的容忍度(以及其他一些约束)。 从技术上讲，仅使用向量时钟即可达成共识，但使用Paxos和pBFT等协议则更为流行。

So, all in all, the definition of distributed ledger goes as follows:

因此，总的来说， 分布式分类帐的定义如下：

“A distributed ledger technology is a decentralized database distributed across different nodes of the network. Every node views all the records in question and processes every transaction. The nodes collectively vote on every item’s veracity guaranteeing trust and transparency under certain conditions.”

分布式账本技术是分散在网络不同节点上的分散数据库。 每个节点查看所有有问题的记录并处理每个事务。 节点共同对每个项目的准确性进行投票，以确保在特定条件下的信任和透明性。”

分布式分类帐技术的好处 (Benefits of Distributed Ledger Technology)

DLT has gained a wide popularity thanks to its multiple benefits over centralized data-storage systems.

由于DLT在集中式数据存储系统方面具有多重优势，因此已广受欢迎。

• Transparency and immutability: Unlike in a centralized system, all nodes enjoy equal rights over the data. All the decisions are made collectively. DLT provides an immutable and verifiable audit trail of all operations.

  透明度和不变性：与集中式系统不同，所有节点在数据上享有平等的权利。 所有决定都是集体做出的。 DLT提供了所有操作的不变且可验证的审核跟踪。

• Attack resistance: DLT is a more cyber attack–resilient system than traditional centralized databases because it’s distributed. There is no single point of attack, which makes the attempts to hack such systems too expensive and useless.

  抵抗攻击：由于 DLT是分布式的，因此它比传统的集中式数据库更具网络攻击力和弹性。 没有单一的攻击点，这使得破解此类系统的尝试过于昂贵和无用。

区块链与DLT (Blockchain vs. DLT)

Now let’s get back to the blockchain. Why does everybody mix up these two terms?

现在让我们回到区块链。 为什么每个人都混淆这两个术语？

The answer is that blockchain is indeed a distributed ledger system. Blockchain users also have decentralized control over data, and many nodes participate in the distribution, administration, and change of data.

答案是区块链确实是一个分布式账本系统。 区块链用户还对数据进行分散控制，许多节点参与数据的分发，管理和更改。

What matters is that blockchain is a specific type of DLT. It looks like a sequence of blocks of information. Each of them depends on both the previous and subsequent block, which does imitate the construction of a chain.

重要的是，区块链是DLT的一种特定类型。 它看起来像一系列信息块。 它们每个都依赖于前一个和后一个块，后者确实模仿了链的构造。

Here are the differences between blockchain and DLT:

这是区块链和DLT之间的区别：

• Available operations: In a traditional database technology, four operations are available: Create, Retrieve, Update and Delete (CRUD). In a blockchain, you can only use Create and Retrieve operations.

  可用的操作：在传统的数据库技术中，可以使用四个操作： Create ， Retrieve ， Update和Delete (CRUD)。 在区块链中，您只能使用Create和Retrieve操作。

• Block structure: Blockchain represents data as a chain of blocks, which isn’t mandatory for other types of DLT.

  块结构：块链将数据表示为块链，这对于其他类型的DLT并不是强制性的。

• Sequence: Distributed ledger technology doesn’t have to follow the block-after-block structure of the blockchain.

  序列：分布式分类帐技术不必遵循区块链的块后结构。

• Tokens: Blockchain is generally a token economy, but DLT doesn’t require their usage.

  令牌：区块链通常是一种令牌经济，但DLT不需要使用它们。

不同类型的DLT (Different Types of DLT)

Blockchain is the most popular type of DLT. However, it’s not the only one.

区块链是DLT最受欢迎的类型。 但是，它不是唯一的。

The most popular types of DLT used in industry today can be divided into three groups:

当今行业中最流行的DLT类型可以分为三类：

• Public: This is a decentralized system where any two parties, regardless of their location, can transact. Public DLT relies on the consensus of all the nodes.

  公开：这是一个分散的系统，任何两个参与方，无论其身在何处，都可以进行交易。 公共DLT依赖于所有节点的共识。

• Private: Often used by enterprises as a corporate database. It’s a permissioned network — meaning different ledgers are still synchronized across the nodes. However, there’s an owner who has the power to decide who’ll get access to the network.

  私有：企业通常将其用作公司数据库。 这是一个允许的网络-意味着不同的分类帐仍在节点之间同步。 但是，有一个所有者有权决定谁可以访问网络。

• Consortium: Consortium DLT is used by an association of companies that share equal rights over the network. The system lets multiple businesses use the DLT as a decentralized system. These are also called federated DLTs.

  财团：财团DLT由在网络上享有平等权利的公司协会使用。 该系统允许多个企业使用DLT作为分散系统。 这些也称为联合DLT。

案例研究：卡尔达诺沉降层 (Case Study: Cardano Settlement Layer)

Serokell is one of the teams of independent researchers and software engineers who developed the Cardano project. It’s an open-source, decentralized public blockchain. The purpose of Cardano was to provide the users with a smart contract platform that overcame common security flaws, had decreased transaction costs, and improved network speed.

Serokell是开发Cardano项目的独立研究人员和软件工程师的团队之一。 这是一个开源，去中心化的公共区块链。 Cardano的目的是为用户提供一个智能合约平台，该平台可以克服常见的安全漏洞，降低交易成本并提高网络速度。

We developed the Cardano Settlement Layer cryptocurrency and a wallet for CSL.

我们开发了Cardano Settlement Layer加密货币和CSL钱包。

Cardano uses a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm. This choice allowed to introduce some fresh features to CSL. Let’s talk about them more in detail.

卡尔达诺使用权益证明共识算法。 这种选择允许为CSL引入一些新功能。 让我们更详细地讨论它们。

代表团 (Delegation)

This feature allows a node to be offline but still have an impact on the system. Delegation isn’t compatible with PoW, where everybody should be present in order to vote. There are two types of this feature the users can benefit from using Cardano.

此功能允许节点脱机，但仍对系统有影响。 委托与PoW不兼容，在PoW中每个人都应出席以进行投票。 用户可以通过使用Cardano受益于此功能的两种类型。

Heavy delegation

重代表团

How does it work? Imagine being in a board of directors of an enterprise. All the members have shares, attend meetings, and vote on decisions regarding the company.

它是如何工作的？ 想象一下在一家企业的董事会中。 所有成员都有股份，参加会议并就有关公司的决定投票。

• If one of them can’t attend a meeting, they trust somebody to vote on their behalf. For that, a warrant (or a proxy, in our case) is needed. It’ll be sent to other members of the board to let them know somebody else is eligible to vote on behalf of that member.
  如果其中一个不能参加会议，则他们信任某人代表他们投票。 为此，需要认股权证(在我们的情况下为代理人)。 它将发送给董事会其他成员，让他们知道其他人有资格代表该成员投票。
• If the member that was absent arrives to the next meeting, they need to revoke the proxy, sending a signed letter to each member and stating that it’s not valid anymore.
  如果缺席的成员到达下一次会议，则需要撤消代理，向每个成员发送签名的信，并声明该成员不再有效。

Light delegation

轻授权

Another option is to give the proxy only to your representative who’ll show it to the others on demand whenever needed to vote on your behalf. If you come to the meeting, the others will just ignore the proxy.

另一种选择是仅将代理提供给您的代表，该代理将在需要时代您投票以将其展示给其他人。 如果您参加会议，其他人将忽略该代理。

This feature allows all users to vote for proposed updates. Any user can suggest an update to the system. The others will have a look at it, make sure it’s safe, and won’t allow anybody to abuse the system. If it’s OK, they’ll cast their shares for the update. So the system is self-regulated: A user proposes updates, and other users vote. If there are enough votes, the system will be updated.

此功能允许所有用户对建议的更新进行投票。 任何用户都可以建议对系统进行更新。 其他人将对此进行检查，确保其安全性，并且不允许任何人滥用该系统。 如果可以的话，他们将为更新进行共享。 因此系统是自我调节的：用户提出更新建议，其他用户投票。 如果有足够的选票，系统将被更新。

智能合约 (Smart contracts)

You can write code, send it to all nodes in the system, and the code will run on them. Every node will check whether the code is correct — for example, that it doesn’t waste money it’s not allowed to spend.

您可以编写代码，将其发送到系统中的所有节点，然后代码将在它们上运行。 每个节点都将检查代码是否正确-例如，它不会浪费金钱，也不允许花费。

This concept provides an ability to write applications over CSL. For example, you can write your own gambling platform. Its advantage is that the processing of the game happens not just on one server — which may be corrupted — but on multiple nodes that execute the code.

该概念提供了通过CSL编写应用程序的能力。 例如，您可以编写自己的赌博平台。 它的优点是，游戏的处理不仅发生在可能损坏的一台服务器上，而且发生在执行代码的多个节点上。

Even if one of the nodes is corrupted, the others will say, “You argue the results of the execution are this, but we think otherwise.” Since they prevail, nobody counts the corrupted node.

即使其中一个节点已损坏，其他节点也会说：“您认为执行的结果是这样，但我们认为不是。” 由于它们占了上风，因此没有人计算损坏的节点。

Overall, CSL has tried to bring up a scientific-driven approach to development for the construction of a whole new community. After all, cryptocurrency is much more than just technical decisions, algorithms, and coding. It’s a community of people who believe they’re doing the right thing, which may help to build a better fintech future for the whole world.

总体而言，CSL试图提出一种科学驱动的开发方法来建设一个全新的社区。 毕竟，加密货币不仅仅是技术决策，算法和编码。 这是一个由一群人组成的社区，他们相信自己在做正确的事情，这可能有助于为整个世界建立更好的金融科技未来。

加起来 (Summing up)

Now, you can tell the difference between a DLT and a blockchain. You’ve learned about the advantages and disadvantages of blockchain as opposed to other types of distributed ledger systems.

现在，您可以分辨出DLT和区块链之间的区别。 您已经了解了区块链与其他类型的分布式分类帐系统相比的优缺点。

These technologies represent a new way of storing and processing data that’s being adopted by more and more companies across different industries worldwide, like healthcare, law, education, and so on.

这些技术代表了一种存储和处理数据的新方法，该方法已被全球不同行业的越来越多的公司采用，例如医疗保健，法律，教育等。

翻译自: https://medium.com/better-programming/blockchain-vs-distributed-ledger-technology-whats-the-difference-2587d9780c99