Fleek Network has issued a new whitepaper detailing the decentralised edge platform it is creating to enable the deployment and operation of high-performance web applications. A new open-source Github repository for the protocol has been launched alongside this release, marking a significant step towards the network’s next month’s planned launch of a testnet.
Fleek says that the need to build a decentralised edge platform was motivated by the observation that the modern web has shifted its processing power from the cloud to the edge. Its new whitepaper builds upon the previous work done on a decentralised content delivery network (CDN). With its novel design and protocol architecture, it enables a full edge network.
While the new protocol can still be used to implement a decentralised content delivery network, it also has the potential to handle serverless functions, SSR (server-side rendering), container orchestration, database operations, etc. This shift is in response to the increasing number of users on the internet and their demand for low latency around the world.
Instead of individually developing this performance layer for each web3 service or protocol, Fleek Network plans to make it available as a shared resource that all web3 protocols can use. Fleek’s edge platform is able to enrich nearly any web3 protocol, service, or app because of its modular design and lack of reliance on any particular protocol.
To date, the majority of web3 protocols have had to resort to web2 performance layers in order to satisfy the latency requirements of app makers and end users. Fleek says that the distributed edge platform at the heart of its network will add a much-needed performance layer to the web3 stack. Consequently, this will allow developers to further decentralise their infrastructure stacks and eliminate single points of failure without sacrificing the performance/low latency their users have come to expect.
Fleek Network’s protocol design ensures that nodes across the network only undertake tasks based on their location and their reputation in terms of their performance. In addition to these speed enhancements, the network also includes capabilities such as stateless execution, a VM-free core, content addressing, and more. The newly-released whitepaper describes how these factors improve the speed and responsiveness of the network and the edge services developed on top of it.
Parsa Ghadimi, lead researcher at Fleek Network, says: “Fleek Network’s architecture replicates the theory the edge brought to web2 to a blockchain architecture: executing services close to users, intelligently scaling up and down, only using resources when and where required.”
With the whitepaper out, Fleek plans to create a testnet for its decentralised edge network in August. Ultimately, Fleek Network aims to deliver a platform that can help any web3 protocol, middleware, service, or app further decentralise their stack without compromising on price, performance, complexity, or UX.
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