3. Major features

The Core software is a very important step forward and forms the foundation on top of which to build Dapps. A detailed explanation of all the features is provided in our technical documentation, but our most important features are described in the following paragraphs.

3.1 Truly decentralized, permissionless and anonymous

Our beliefs about what this type of software should look like are well-known, and this article explains everything in great detail. The current release is 100% autonomous software on the Ethereum blockchain with no third-party involvement. This is not an empty claim; anyone is free to verify the fact in our code, as did this independent reviewer, for example.

The most challenging task was to create a technical design which prevented anyone from revealing the IP-addresses of all network participants and allow network availability checks. Our Tor + Ethereum discovery and messaging architecture is unique and allows us to run the network without compromising IP-addresses.

3.2 Agent for Win, Mac and Ubuntu

Yes, starting from today, everyone with minimal requirements will be able to publish their offerings and sell their bandwidth for which they will be paid in real PRIX tokens.

The Agent software is available for three major platforms: Windows, Mac and Ubuntu. The Debian version comes with CLI for advanced users who want to install the node on servers easily and conveniently.

3.3 Client for Win, Mac and Ubuntu

The Client software allows users to discover, check availability and get offerings from Agents, accept them and get access to a decentralized bandwidth service (including VPN). Everything works on the Blockchain via smart contracts and escrow-deals to guarantee payments and transparency.

The Client is available in Simple and Advanced modes (see explanation below). The software is available for three major platforms : Windows, Mac and Ubuntu.

3.4 Simple mode Client for Win, Mac and Ubuntu

The Client is an application for accessing decentralized (blockchain) services on the Privatix Network. Initially, the Client displays a large number of settings and details to choose from (Advanced mode). However, to make it more user-friendly, we have created a simplified version of the interface (Simple mode).

When you are installing the Client, the installation wizard will guide you through Simple mode, but you will be able to simply click between the Advanced and Simple modes. You can see and feel the difference. You can find out more about the differences by reading this article.

3.5 OpenVPN as a transport protocol

In the current release, we have an OpenVPN (UDP) plugin integrated and well-tested in various environments. We consider this protocol to be the most well known and audited.

Nevertheless, we have additional transport in development in the form of Proxy (V2Ray). It is currently available on testnet and will be released to mainnet at a later stage.

3.6 IP-types differentiation

An IP address is almost a commodity of the Internet nowadays. Traffic from residential or mobile IPs is more valuable than from data centre (servers) IP addresses.

In a centralized world, everything is simple, but the Core software cannot rely on external APIs to determine IP type. That was a theoretical challenge for us on how to provide this feature without compromising the principles of decentralization.

Moreover, the only way to see each other’s IP addresses is to provide the service first, including Escrow deposits from both sides.

The only way to implement this feature is to allow Agents to declare their IP type in offerings. The Client who accepts the offering can check the IP type once he starts to receive the Agent’s service. If the IP type is not as specified, the Client can close the connection and affect the overall Rating of this Agent.

3.7 Quality of service based on Rating

Ensuring the quality of bandwidth-related service is a hard task, and nearly impossible in a decentralized environment with P2P connections. Therefore, we have adopted a different approach to measuring the quality of the service for Agents and Clients.

In Privatix Network Core, we have implemented a Rating for bandwidth sellers and buyers as well. Our approach and realization of the Rating mechanism are both explained in this article, and it relies on a social-graph to prevent cheating. As more successful trades take place with different users, the Rating rises and vice versa.

Incorporating game theory principles on a large scale, we assume that network participants will try to maintain the best rating they can get, and the best way to influence this is to keep a good and stable connection.

Unfortunately, due to the distribution of nodes worldwide, latency issues, for example, are beyond the user’s control, which can harm their rating. But, statistically, it will tend to average out the values, and errors like these would be rounded up.

We assume that at scale, the rating mechanics are the best solution that we can provide, because we can’t rely on any of the centralized solutions.

3.8 Voluntary updates

The mainnet release includes new update notifications. Clients and Agents would be able to receive a notification when a new release is available and download it voluntarily. In this case, all the settings will be preserved.

Automatic updating is arguable in Core software due to the decentralization principles we want to preserve.

3.9 Well documented open source

A free and open-source distribution license is the “religion” adopted by the core development team from day one. Exactly as Bitcoin Core or Ethereum and the Linux communities, we would encourage more and more developers to contribute and audit the code, keeping it open and accessible for everyone on the planet.

The openness of the Core software can be a good start for any developers who want to build their own products or tools based on the Privatix Network features.

In Core software development, we should be focused on developers who can take the open-source project to new levels and develop solutions on top of the Core. As with Bitcoin, many projects are born, many fall and many succeed, but despite all of this, move forward in the right direction — that’s the purpose.

Full technical documentation is available and constantly updated. In our experience, it is a matter of hours for any developer to study the software and get a very deep insight into it.