Decentralized Domain Service: Exploration of Website Deployment on Blockchain

A recent event has prompted a re-examination of the reliability of traditional domain access services. The domain resolution service, which has always been considered stable, has unexpectedly encountered problems, leading us to ponder: could a decentralization solution be a viable alternative worth exploring?

Deploying a website on the Blockchain may have the following advantages:

1. Decentralization: All modifications require consensus to proceed, avoiding unilateral decision-making by a single institution.

2. No need for certificates: the Blockchain itself uses encryption technology, and no additional configuration of certificates is required.

Previously, I had encountered a domain name solution from a certain blockchain platform, and at that time I thought it was just novel and interesting, with low practicality, as traditional access methods are already quite mature and stable. But now it seems that this solution may indeed have its application scenarios and is worth further research.

Blockchain website creation process

This article will attempt to deploy a website on a certain Blockchain platform and make it accessible in a browser. The entire process is divided into three steps: 1. Purchase a domain name; 2. Prepare the front-end page; 3. Bind the page to the domain name.

The concept of domain names in Blockchain is similar to that in the Web2 world; both are aliases for complex addresses. In Blockchain, it represents user addresses, while in Web2, it refers to server IP addresses.

Domain Purchase

Taking a certain Blockchain platform as an example, the domain name can be purchased on the official website, priced in platform tokens. Similar to Web2, the shorter the character length of the domain name, the higher the price, ranging from 1 to 100 tokens.

Unoccupied domain names can be auctioned at a low price. Once the countdown begins, everyone can place bids until it ends. The purchased domain names will be stored in the user's wallet in the form of NFTs and can be traded. The validity period of the domain name is 1 year, after which it will be reclaimed.

In short, domain names can be obtained through the official website auction or by trading with other users.

Front-end page preparation

This step requires preparing a front-end page for demonstration. To simplify the process, this article only prepares an html file and exposes it with nginx, and a cloud server is also needed to run the front-end page. This step is the same as the deployment of traditional front-end applications.

Page bound to domain

After obtaining a domain name, you can bind the ANDL address on the platform's DNS official website. You can also use the binding tool provided by the platform and follow the official guide.

After binding is complete, you need to start the listening port on the server to forward http requests to udp. You can use the official tool and enter the following command to start:

rldp-http-proxy/rldp-http-proxy -p 8080 -c 3333 -C global.config.json

Among them, 8080 is the TCP port for listening to local HTTP queries, and 3333 is the UDP port for RLDP and ADNL activities. global.config.json is the platform's global configuration file, which can be downloaded from the official website.

Access Blockchain Domain

Directly entering the blockchain domain name in the browser cannot access the website because the browser cannot resolve it. Additional operations are required.

Request Process

When requesting a blockchain domain name, first query the corresponding ANDL address on-chain, similar to an IP address in Web2, which is generated automatically when deploying a website. This query process is similar to a DNS query.

Then forward the request to the corresponding machine based on the ANDL address and return the specified page. The overall process is similar to Web2, with the main difference being the method of querying address and domain name mapping.

Access via proxy

It is recommended to use the proxy tool provided by the official. After downloading, installing, and starting it, the proxy will start on port 8080, and then you can access the Blockchain domain.

Summary of Use

Currently encountering the following issues during use:

1. There are requirements for the website operating environment. The system must support glibc version 2.34 or higher, and the machine must be checked for compliance before deployment.

2. The documentation is not clear enough. It may be due to the limited requirements, and the documentation is not comprehensive, requiring self-exploration. The Chinese version updates are also lagging behind the English version.

3. Access speed is relatively slow. Compared to traditional websites, the access speed is slower, and there is significant room for improvement in the future.

4. Wallet support not obtained. The official provides a simple embedded browser page that can be accessed directly without installing a proxy. However, currently mainstream wallets recognize it as a phishing site.

Overall, the current experience is average, with many areas for improvement. However, this direction is very innovative and worth trying.