What we are seeing in the new internet of value is similar to what we saw before.

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model is a conceptual framework to make it easier for us to understand the technical interactions happening in networks. The framework is relevant to describe how the Internet works and can then draw parallels to a blockchain Internet.

Bluzelle follows a similar architecture. Below we go into the layers and show how it’s applied specially for Bluzelle in Layers 5–7. In layers 1–4, we operate similar to the framework with no need to customize it.

Application (Layer 7)

The protocols and interfaces consumed by applications so they can present the information sent to or received by users, using an interface that is human-friendly (i.e., a URL). HTTP is the most notable example, and provides a means for data to be presented directly for application consumption.

Bluzelle’s API exposes the application-domain specific interfaces, RESTful in design, that are each mapped to CRUD (create/read/update/delete). The API is intelligent and dynamic, and is able to locate and route requests to the most appropriate and accessible nodes nearby in the correct leaf swarm, providing all necessary authentication and request information to process the CRUD calls that form the backbone and foundation of Bluzelle.

Presentation (Layer 6)

This layer takes care of translating system-specific data representation formats so the application layer can be portable and system-agnostic. It typically also handles encryption and decryption of data, bidirectionally.

Bluzelle’s nodes have two layers — the lower farming layer and the upper bridge layer. The bridge layer provides the presentation-level bridge between the farming/working layer and Bluzelle’s layer 7 application layer API interface. The bridge layer’s top priority is provisioning of CRUD (create, read, update, delete) services, negotiated on top of the lower session layer of nodes. For all data requests, identities and permissioning is verified. The bridge layer performs audits by requesting nodes to answer challenges. The bridge layer also participates in accounting, rewarding farmers for storage and retrieval services (Bluzelle’s Proof of Storage algorithm), and charging customers for services rendered.

Session (Layer 5)

This layer manages sessions between applications. It can open or close a session. For example, the Transport layer (below) gives you a “pipeline” over which this layer manages a session. Sessions could include an SSH or SCP connection, or VPN/Tunneling.

The session layer consists of the farming nodes that collectively provide the storage, processing, and network resources that power Bluzelle’s decentralized database. These nodes act in swarms, sharing requests for data retrieval, storage, and updates, where data is hashed consistently and partitioned in 2D (vertical and horizontal). This layer exposes the features of Bluzelle’s blockchain-like technologies in a raw form, providing low-level access to encrypted, sharded data that can be consumed by the upper presentation layer.

Transport (Layer 4)

This layer manages packetization of data into sizes suitable for the network layer (below), and is responsible for the delivery of these packets, including checking for errors in the data once it arrives (checksums, etc). It provides the needed abstraction on the network layer to enable a device to have arbitrarily many “connections” (session layer above) open at the same time. Notable examples: TCP and UDP.

Network (Layer 3)

This layer manages giving network-specific addresses to every data packet on the Internet (network of networks). It also is responsible for routing these packets in the right direction so they get to their destination, one hop at a time. Notable example: IPv4, which is the basis of the Internet. This is the “Internet” layer. It exposes the functionality of the Internet in a raw form, that still necessitates the upper transport layer so that the Internet can be consumed practically. It inter-connects the networks exposed in the data link layer.

Data Link (Layer 2)

This layer is interested in creating the links necessary to talk to other machines on the immediate physical network, using the format of network frames (packets) specific to the data link protocol to transport data within a LAN/WAN. It abstracts away the underlying hardware, and is typically contained in the operating system as a device driver exposing a device for the upper network layer to interface with. In network nomenclature, this is the network. Notable examples: Ethernet, PPP, SLIP

Physical (Layer 1)

At the lowest level, this layer is primarily interested in physical phenomena. It is responsible for transmitting raw bit streams to a specific other communications device in the same physical topology using either radio waves, optical waves, micro waves, electrical current, or other forms of energy. It is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the physical network provided can send and receive data at the most fundamental level. Notable examples: 802.11 (the wifi standard), 100BaseT (wired Ethernet), DSL, USB.

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