Blockchain components

Blockchain technology has become widespread due to openness, immutability of stored data, decentralization and the ability to make decisions in an untrusted environment between peers in the network without the participation of intermediaries. The first implementation of blockchain technology was created as part of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency project.

Blockchain includes five main components:

• Nodes (nodes) – devices included in the blockchain network. The main task of the nodes is to maintain the network, distribute and store copies of the blockchain, and in some cases, to process transactions.
• Consensus Mechanism – A protocol that allows you to come to an agreement between peers in a decentralized network. There are many implementations of the protocol, but the most popular of them are PoW, PoS, dPos, aBFT, dBFT.
• A virtual machine is a software system that emulates the work of a distributed decentralized blockchain platform, running decentralized applications and smart contracts.

• A block chain is a data structure built by sequentially combining blocks into a chain. All blocks are strictly sequential (due to the storage of the hash function value from the previous block), they are denoted by continuous numbering, in which the child block always refers to only one parent block.
• A distributed ledger is an electronic database system distributed across multiple network nodes or devices.

All of these components interact closely with each other and play an important role in the blockchain ecosystem.

There are also additional add-ons for blockchain networks that do not affect the internal architecture of the technology, but can significantly expand its functionality. These include: mechanisms that provide increased speed and improved confidentiality of transactions, mechanisms for off-chain transactions, modules that protect against attacks carried out using quantum computers, etc.