DA Introduction
Ensuring data availability is a crucial aspect of modular blockchains, as it allows nodes to download all the data included in blocks that are distributed through a peer-to-peer network. This is essential for both the security and scalability of blockchains.
To guarantee the security and scalability of blockchains, full nodes need to be able to access and verify the complete set of transactions associated with a particular block. Modular blockchains resolve this issue by separating data availability from consensus and execution, which helps increase throughput by removing certain constraints.
The data availability layer in a modular blockchain stack stores transaction data and provides consensus on the order of transactions. In typical blockchains, verifying data availability requires nodes to download all transaction data for a block to confirm a particular event's occurrence.
However, downloading all transaction data poses a significant obstacle to scaling. To overcome this constraint, some projects use Data Availability Sampling, a method of verifying transaction data availability in each newly proposed block without requiring all nodes to download all data. This is a solution to the data availability problem, which involves the need to prove to the entire network that the summarized form of some transaction data being added to the blockchain truly represents a set of valid transactions.
Template of Data Availability
The purpose of the Data Availability template is to provide an overview of the projects that fall under the Data Availability category. It is organized into three main sections: technology, architecture, and use cases.
- Data Availability
- Technology: This section covers the fundamental concepts necessary to grasp the workings of data availability.
- Architecture: This section explains the various components and nodes that are necessary to operate the data availability layer.
- Use Cases: This section provides examples of projects that make use of data availability.
