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A Survey on Decentralized Application based On
Blockchain Platform
Dr. Rajkumar Banoth – Associate Professor
Department of Computer Engineering
Marwadi University
Rajkot, Gujarat, India
e-mail: rajkumar.banoth@marwadieducation.edu.in
Maharshi B. Dave – Mtech Scholar
Department of Cyber Security
Marwadi University
Rajkot, Gujarat, India
e-mail: maharshi.dave110627@marwadiuniversity.ac.in
Abstract— Blockchain is distributed network technology
which stores information in decentralized manner. Blockchain
makes transaction transparent and provides e nhanced security
using cryptography. It has some properties including
immutability, decentralization and auditability which makes
transaction tamper proof and more secure. Decentralization is
becoming popular way to develop applications and for data
management. This paper has conducted a survey on the working
of decentralized application based on Ethereum. Further, this
research study has also analyzed the working of smart contract
in Blockchain. Apart from that, InterPlanetary File S ystem is
used to for storing and accessing files in a distributed system.
Moreover, this research study has covered different tools and
techniques , which are used to de velop DApps based on Ethereum
network.
Keywords—Blockchain, Ethereum, Smart contract,
Decentralization, InterPlanetary File System (IPFS).
I. INTRODUCT ION
Bloc kchain technology is peer-to-peer network-based
technology. Blockchain is a distributed ledger of
transaction[1]. Blockchain is works in decentralized manner so
there is no central authority. Every node in network frequently
synchronizes the distributed ledger. It uses the cryptography
for enhanced security purpose. Blockchain us es cryptographic
hash mechanism, so that data stored in block cannot be
modified. If one block’s data is modified then afterward every
block’s data should be recalculated with new has h value. This
immutability feature is one of the fundamental application of
Bloc kchain. Blockchain supports transparent and immutable
trans action which are also easy to audit[2].
There are several types of blockchain, It can be public,
private, per miss ioned or consortium[2]. Bitcoin is an example
of public blockchain where anyone can mine the block and also
make transaction and join the network. Whereas in private
blockchain there will be one organization which will be
responsible to govern the transactions and controlling who is
allowed to join network. Pe rmissioned blockchain is generally
setup for single business where participants need permiss ion to
join the network. When multiple organization come up together
and decides to implement blockchain, then responsibilities will
be shared among them to maintain the blockchain it is called
consortium blockchain.
Ethereum is blockchain platform which enables developers
to develop decentralized apps [3]. Ethereum Blockchain is
capable of simulating bus iness logics, allowing developers to
write smart contracts to develop decentralized application in
which they can create certain rules for ownership and
transaction formats. S mart contract is a piece of code which
can be automatically e xecute if certain conditions are met[4].
Solidity is a widely used programming language for writing
smart contracts in Ethereum. EVM (Ethereum Virtual
Machine) provides all the necess ary functionality to run a
smart contract in Ethereum. InterPlanetary File Sys tem (IPFS)
is a distributed file system for peer-to-peer network. It
generates unique hash for every file which are uploaded and
also modifies hash value each time when file gets updated [1].
Distributed file system is having several issues related to
security and privacy. This issues arise mainly because data is
being stored on different nodes in distributed file system rather
than single device. IPFS is using transport-encryption. It means
data is s ecured while it is moving between the nodes. A best
possible way for securing data is to encrypt the data before
uploading it to IPFS.
II. OVERVIEW OF TECHNOLOGY
A. Ethereum
Ethereum is a blockchain which provides developer to
develop decentralized applications by running programming
code using EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine).
B. Smart Contract
Smart contract is the business logic, it is a piece of code
written by develop er which e xecutes on top of Ethereu m
blockchain when certain conditions are met [5].
C. InterPlanetary File System
InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a distributed file
storage system for storing and accessing files in distributed
network. IPFS employs content address ing to identify stuff
bas ed on what it contains rather than its physical location.
IPFS generates hash value of every file wh ich is being
uploaded.
D. Solidity
Solidity is a wide ly used programming language to write
smart contracts on top of Ethereum blockchain.
Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Computing and Data Communication Systems (ICSCDS-2022)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP22AZ5-ART; ISBN: 978-1-6654-7884-7
978-1-6654-7884-7/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE 1171
2022 International Conference on Sustainable Computing and Data Communication Systems (ICSCDS) | 978-1-6654-7884-7/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ICSCDS53736.2022.9760861
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E. Remix
Remix is a s oftware that combines standard developer
tools into a s ingle graphical user interface (GUI) for deploying
and compiling Ethereum Blockchain s mart contracts.
F. Metamask
Metamask is an e-wallet used in browser as an extension
which keep records of transaction of Ethereum Blockchain.
III. RELAT ED STU DY
A. Implementation of DApp based on Ethereum Blockchain
For implementation, they have used Ethereum blockchain
and developed an e-voting app using smart contract on top of
Ethereum network us ing E-wallets[3]. Ethereu m provides
many s ervices and solutions and also easy to use development
tools and smart contract. To deploy and compile the smart
contract, every node in the network executes the contract and
for that they have to invest s ome ether. Gas amount is needed
to execute smart contract[4]. There is must that every vote is
real and each person should only be allowed to vote once. This
is preserved by immutability of blockchain. Once a person has
voted then no one can alter the data.
Because the Ethereum main network utilizes the original
Ethereum, which is e xpensive, s o they have used the test
network, also known as the truffle network, for this
experiment[4]. There are various test networks on the market,
but Truffle is the mos t popular since it is eas y to use and
implement smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.
Furthermore, it a llows users to choose between a public and
private blockchain network. Ganache will provide a platform
for Ethereum blockchain development. It will supply ten
accounts, each with 100 Ether, allowing for s imple blockchain
setup and transactions. Remix IDE is a web and desktop
programme that is free s ource, it allows you to create Solidity
smart contracts directly in your browser. Remix IDE inc ludes
mo dules for s mart contract testing, debugging, and
deployment, among other things. They have combined all the
different functions like candidate, vote etc. In one main
contract called Election. It generates unique id for every user
and maps it to every candidate. Once the candidate has used
their voting privilege using their unique id they cannot vote
again[3]. For voting voter has to pay some gas amount in here
they have used Metamas k extension, Metamask enables users
to visit blockchain via a web browser. When a user votes, a
certain a mount of gas is paid, and the transaction is completed,
all other nodes in the blockchain are notified [3].
B. Secure Data storage based on Blockchain and ACL system
using IPFS
In this paper, they have proposed a multi-us er system
prototype for file management, to provide a s ecure distributed
file storage system, blockchain technology is being used. They
have created web portal from which user can upload data and
then data will be encrypted and secret key of particular data
will be provided to the user, us ing that secret key us er can
acces s the data later[6].
AES256 (Advanced Encryption Standard) algorithm is used
to encrypt the data. With brute-force approaches , AES 256 is
almost unbreakable. While a 56-b it DES key can be cracked in
about a day, AES256 has 1.1 × 1077 potential key
combinations , which would take 3. 31 x 1056 years to crack
using today's computing capability. There a re three different
modules in this proposed system first is User, second Admin
and third is Organization. IPFS distributed cloud storage is
used to manage and s tore data[7]. User have to be registered,
then select the document type and browse the document from
local storage to upload. Then s elected document will be
encrypted using AES256 a lgorithm with randomly generated
key[6]. The hash of the encrypted document will be returned
after it is uploaded to the IPFS d istributed cloud. Paralle l, the
smart contract is also invoked, and the returned hash will be
stored on blockchain with s ome minimal fees. These all hashes
are also stored on the smart contract. On successfully
uploading of document, a rece ipt will be generated which is
stored on firebase databas e along with returned hash.
C. E-documents storage using Blockchain
Generally, any document which is prepared for official us e
will be in printed form. However it’s far better to s tore and
share electronic documents . The same content can be accessed
by using computer or mobile, it is called as E-documents [8].
The proposed system us es blockchain to keep the documents
secure and always available via internet. Initially every node
will be independent. After the connection between all the
nodes in blockchain, Peer-to-Peer connection will be
establis hed. This will be done using third party hardware which
they have termed as the bottle-server. The bottle-server is
responsible for verification of authorized node and also it will
be having some threshold amount for incoming connections.
Authorized nodes are the only ones which can enter the
data into the blockchain network. A soft copy of document will
be made and s ent it to blockchain network by authorized node.
This e-copy will be synchronized in every nodes in the
blockchain network. The owner will get document code which
is generated by SHA-256 hashing algorithm. The us er will
access the API for document retrieval. One Time Pas s word
verification method is used to access the particular
document[8].
D. IPFS and Block chain-based file storage and access
framework
IPFS (InterP lanetary File System) is a file s torage system
that is dispersed across multiple co mputers . It addresses the
Fig. 1. Remix IDE
Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Computing and Data Communication Systems (ICSCDS-2022)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP22AZ5-ART; ISBN: 978-1-6654-7884-7
978-1-6654-7884-7/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE 1172
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present file storage system's security, reliability, and scalability
issues [9]. IPFS provides high throughput for accessing file
storage [10]. In the mining operation, the previous hash will be
added to the new block and The minor who calculates the
block hash first will share it with other blockchain nodes. The
authenticity of the block will then be verified by other nodes.
The image files were s tored in the IPFS distributed file system
using ipfsapi. The SHA-256 algorithm will be used to generate
the hash value and for convers ion of the message digest to hex
format, the salting procedure is utilised. The Message Diges t
(MD) and Hash values are combined to form a hash of content-
address , which will be stored into the blockchain network.
The IPFS creates 46 byte long hash so the storage space is
less consumed compared to the traditional file storage
system[7]. In this proposed system miners will collect the
transactions and valid ones will be mined and stored into IPFS
distributed network and new block will be generated into the
Blockchain network. A unique hash will be provided by the
IPFS for the stored transactions. Using this unique hash one
can access the transaction.
E. Freelancing platform on top of Ethereum
Ethereum public blockchain makes freelancing platform
more transparent. Blockchain is a trus tless system where nodes
do not know each other s ame as freelancing where e mployers
do not know the freelancer, they just get their information like
what technical expertise they have, by looking up their profile.
By implementing blockchain in freelancing s ystem it is eas y to
assign and maintain f reelancing wor k as well as payment
process [11].
The user can be either employer or freelancer. The process
starts from registering themselves by visiting website. Website
is running on Ethereum so for registration they have to use
their Ethereum blockchain address. After registering one can
post a job or can apply for the open jobs. Employer can choos e
the freelancer by reviewing their previous projects and ratings.
Once employer decide and s elect freelancer the ethers will be
debited from e mployer’s account and when job gets done and
employer confirms that job is completed, the ethers will be
trans ferred to freelancer’s account. Ethereum blockchain
ma kes this payment process easy and more transparent. It
eliminates the third party from the payment process. If the
freelancer cancels the job, the ethers will be credited to
employer’s account and the job will be open to other
freelancer. For this decentralized s ystem smart contract is used
for peer to peer trans action.
The proposed methods are based on decentralized network
and distributed file system, there are many advantages in
decentralized network environment but it also has certain
limitations. In current scenario Decentralized applications
(dApp) infras tructure is hard to maintain and develop in large
scale, because every peer in the network needs to upgrade their
node software, maintenance, debugging, and updates become
mo re d ifficult [13]. In Decentralized Apps, traditional security
will not be effective. Because Decentralized Apps run
differently and in a different context, it's necessary to adopt
dApp-specific s ecurity solutions .
IV. CONCLUSION
In recent years Blockchain gained attention of all
developers to develop decentralized applications and integrate
the distributed file storage system. This res earch study has
success fully presented a survey on Dapps built on the
Ethereum Blockchain and a document s haring platform based
on the IPFS distributed file system. The proposed study has
also covered the tools required to build a private Ethereum tes t
network. The traditional file sys tem storage lacks security,
integrity and reliability, To improve this poss ible method is to
use P2P connection based distributed IPFS file storage system.
We have incorporated a technique to use the IPFS storage
system to build a document storage and access system on top
of Blockchain.
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Fig. 2. Decentralized freelancing platform diagram
Paper
Ethe reum
Te st
ne twork
Sm art
con tract
E-
wallet
Crypto -
graphi c
Alg ori th
m
Has hing
Alg orith
m
[12 ] Geth &
Remix IDE
So lidity Meta
mask
Ellipt ic
Curve
SHA256
[4] T ruffle,
Ganache &
Remix IDE
So lidity NA NA NA
[3] T ruffle,
Ganache &
Remix IDE
So lidity Meta
mask
NA NA
[11 ] NA So lidity Meta
mask
NA SHA256
[1] NA NA NA NA SHA256
T ABLE I. COMPA RATIVE ANAL YSIS OF BUILDING ETHE REUM TEST
NETWORK
Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Computing and Data Communication Systems (ICSCDS-2022)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP22AZ5-ART; ISBN: 978-1-6654-7884-7
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Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Computing and Data Communication Systems (ICSCDS-2022)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP22AZ5-ART; ISBN: 978-1-6654-7884-7
978-1-6654-7884-7/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE 1174
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