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We’re living in a multicloud world. Today, 85 percent of businesses rely on multiple clouds to meet their IT needs, with 71 percent using more than three[1]. What this means in practice for enterprise clients is that they have multiple architectures in place. This may be fine for “tried and true” workloads–like credit card processing and airline reservations–but what happens when you start testing or implementing more complex transaction networks such as blockchain?

There are a number of clients in this position, which is why today, IBM has announced it is enabling clients to deploy the IBM Blockchain Platform, making it easier to build, deploy, govern and grow networks in the environment of their choosing, whether in a public cloud or behind the firewall. For clients who prefer the latter, IBM Blockchain Platform for IBM Cloud Private delivers the components that an organization needs to connect their on-premises computing systems to a cloud-based blockchain network, develop a custom-managed local network, or simply run IBM Blockchain Platform on IBM Z® or IBM LinuxONE via IBM Cloud Private.

Control of your data: Data privacy & data residency

IBM Blockchain Platform is built on Hyperledger Fabric, an open-source blockchain framework hosted by the Linux Foundation. Underpinned by LinuxONE, IBM Blockchain Platform running Hyperledger Fabric helps enable clients to protect their data, ensure the integrity of the overall network, and meet the stringent security requirements of the financial, health care and government sectors, helping to foster compliance.

Consider Smart Dubai, a city-wide initiative using IBM Blockchain Platform to integrate digitized services and experiences run on IBM Blockchain into citizens’ day-to-day lives. The new platform conforms to the Dubai Government’s Information Security Regulation (ISR) and is powered by LinuxONE. [2]

And just like Smart Dubai, there are numerous clients who want to deploy blockchain, but need to host data locally for government, regulatory or corporate reasons. Now, they can implement blockchain on premises – taking advantage of a secure blockchain infrastructure underpinned by advanced workload isolation and tamper-resistant encryption key storage. Clients can also keep a copy of the ledger on their own infrastructure, enabling control around where and how data is stored.

For clients operating in European countries affected by the stepped-up regulations of GDPR and PSD2, or in general for data residency and privacy concerns, IBM Z and LinuxONE can encrypt 100 percent of application, cloud service, and database data without application changes. IBM Z and LinuxONE delivers the scalability to support and enable rapid growth, making IBM Blockchain on IBM Cloud Private running on IBM Z and LinuxONE the best choice for clients looking for the highest levels of security coupled with the ability to meet compliance needs.

Choice in infrastructure: Perform across peers

What about performance?

As part of the evaluation and testing of enterprise-grade production blockchains, performance across peers is another key consideration in the decentralized world of blockchain. That’s another place where the architecture behind LinuxONE excels–because it can run blockchain transactions up to two times faster on LinuxONE than on x86. [3]

For choice and control, IBM Blockchain Platform for IBM Cloud Private offers both, backed by our history and experience. The IBM Blockchain Platform builds on the experience gained in a working environment with more than 500 client engagements, and now supports clients running blockchain applications in public cloud, including AWS and IBM Cloud and an on-premises capability with IBM Cloud Private.

IBM Z and LinuxONE are blockchain ready–are you?

[1] https://www.ibm.com/blogs/cloud-computing/2018/02/15/multicloud-era-team-ready/

[2] *ISR mandates government entities in Dubai to implement specific requirements and controls to ensure appropriate level of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information assets.

[3] Based on internal IBM analysis. Hyperledger Fabric TPS Comparison – LinuxONE vs. x86, with similar CPU utilization, blockchain runs 1.61-2.29 times faster in terms of transaction throughput on LinuxONE vs x86. 

The post The evolution of the IBM Blockchain Platform: Choice and control on IBM Z and LinuxONE appeared first on IBM IT Infrastructure Blog.