Kovan is a new testnet for Ethereum using Parity’s Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus engine, with benefits over Ropsten:

Immune to spam attacks (as Ether supply is controlled by trusted parties)

Consistent 4 second block time

Kovan, a public Proof-of-Authority testnet, uses parity to provide a stable, secure testnet environment for Ethereum developers, due to the instability of the existing Ropsten testnet.

PoA is a replacement for PoW (Proof of Work), which can be used for both public and private chain setups. There is no mining involved to secure the network with PoA, and relies on trusted ‘Validators’ to ensure that valid transactions are added to blocks, processed and executed by the EVM faithfully.

Because mining does not occur on Kovan, malicious actors are prevented from acquiring testnet Ether, solving the spam attack that Ropsten faces.

You can use the Azure automated installation of Parity, however, that will cost almost $200 a month in total- above the free monthly resource level. So to get it for free, you will need to set it up manually.

Let’s create a Kovan testnet node on Azure.

Jump to:

A. Create a Ubuntu VM on Azure

B. Configure DNS

C. Setting up Kovan Testnet Node

Create Ubuntu VM on Azure

First, let’s create and set up new Ubuntu VM on Azure portal. If you don’t have a free Microsoft azure account, let’s create it. If you have an azure account, you can skip this section.

The application below will require a credit card and may be chargeable after the first month. Therefore, it’s recommended that you try to get a higher tier of usage using the Bizspark program or other developer signup pages such as:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/offers/ms-azr-0064p/

Open Account on Azure:

Go to https://azure.microsoft.com/free → Click on Start Free

Create free Azure account

2. Continue with account setup and provide the required info

Free trial sign up on Azure

3. Get your identity verified

Identity verification on azure

4. Once it’s done, agree to the terms and continue. Once the account is created, go to Portal in the menu.

Go to azure portal

You’ll be directed to Azure portal and dashboard.