Golem’s beta testnet has just been released(April, 10th, 2018), so I figured it would be a good time to do a write-up on what exactly Golem is.

What Is Golem?

Golem is an Ethereum DAPP(Decentralized Application) focused on allowing users to rent out the power of their home PC, and in return gain Golem. It’s initial announcement dates back to 2016.

After two years of development, the team finally has something to show for it. The beta testnet has been released, and is live as of April 10th, 2018.

Sounds kinda like Amazon Server Renting, or something similar, right? Yes, sort-of! In fact, it in a sense aims to replace similar services.

Golem is a DAPP that allows average developers, content creators, and curious souls to rent the power of seller/renter machines to do complex tasks that ordinary computers/setups fail to do. Of course those who need more power could always use render farms, or rent servers, but those options often come at a massive expense…

Golem solves the expense problem, and allows just about anyone to access a high power computing solution, at an insanely cheap price. You no longer need to have your own server farm, or massive spending budget to borrow or use high grade computing power.

How Does Golem Work?

All a standard PC user needs to do to put their machine up for “rent”, is become part of the blockchain. Volunteering your machine(and earning a little bit of change) involves the same process that connecting to any other blockchain involves. It’s just like setting up a mining client.

At the moment, there are only two use cases for using Golem from a developer aspect… CGI Rendering, and Machine Learning.

The developer will use the application by uploading their projects that need rendering, and supply a budget. Once submitted, the blockchain will work together to render the project, or execute the stack. Once it’s completed, the funds are split up between the machines, and which did the most work…. And the developer of course, get’s the completed project file in return.

CGI Rendering

The current Beta testnet allows for users to upload Blender content in need of rendering to the blockchain, along with a desired budget(which dictates completion speed, priority, etc). I’m guessing that support for After Effects projects, and etc will be added down the road.

Once you submit your project, your set amount of Golem is taken from your wallet, and held by the blockchain.

Once the blockchain(renters) has completed rendering the Blender project, the funds are released from the Blockchain, to the machines that participated in it’s rendering, and the completed result is sent back to you. All of this is done instantly, and automatically.

Machine Learning

One of Golem’s main goals was to allow for machine learning projects to be possible/testable for not only those who have access to large amounts of computing power. Machine learning should be something that everyone can tinker with, and allowing it to be so is the only way that it will expand, and evolve.

Machine learning is the technology that’s fueling a lot of the worlds biggest and best active projects… For example, self driving vehicles, robots(replacing basic tasks), and etc.

Allowing average developers to work on machine learning related projects will allow for us(as a race) to learn how it works, and write more effective projects faster, and more efficiently.

All developers need to do, is upload their stack to the blockchain, and provide a desired budget. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

In Conclusion

Golem is a Decentralized Application that allows for both CGI artists, and machine learning developers to send in their content/projects to render or execute for dirt cheap. Instead of paying insane amounts of money to render farms, Golem allows for them to use sellers/render machines across the blockchain to render or execute their projects.

This is making machine learning and CGI render intensive work completion available for anyone and everyone, opposed to only those with a hefty budget/special connections.

It’s also the first of it’s kind when it comes to Blockchain technology used to render projects, and will help inspire other DAPPS and blockchains to create and implement similar functions.