Blockchain Website Deployment Practice: Advantages and Challenges of Decentralization Domain Names

A recent event has caused me to rethink the reliability of traditional domain access services. We have always considered domain name resolution services to be very reliable, but it has proven that they can also have issues. This has prompted me to consider that Decentralization solutions might be a worthwhile alternative to explore.

Deploying web pages on the blockchain may have the following advantages:

1. Decentralization: All modifications require consensus to be implemented, and no single entity can act unilaterally.

2. No Certificate Required: Because the blockchain itself uses encryption technology, there is no need for additional configuration of certificates.

I had previously learned about a blockchain platform's domain name solution, and at the time, I thought it was just an interesting concept with low practicality, as traditional access methods are already quite stable and widespread. But looking back now, this kind of solution may indeed have its application scenarios, so I decided to delve deeper into it.

create a website on the blockchain

This article will attempt to deploy a website on a certain blockchain platform and make it accessible via 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 serving as aliases to simplify complex addresses. In blockchain, it represents the user's address, while in Web2, it corresponds to the server's IP address.

Purchase domain name

Taking a certain blockchain platform as an example, domain names can be purchased through the official website, priced in the platform's native tokens. Similar to Web2, shorter character domain names are more expensive, ranging from 1 to 100 tokens.

If a certain domain name has not yet been registered, you can bid at a low price. After bidding, a countdown will begin, during which anyone can participate in the bidding until the countdown ends. The successfully acquired domain name will be stored in the user's wallet as an NFT and can be traded. The validity period of the domain name is 1 year, after which it will be reclaimed.

In short, obtaining a domain name can be done through official auctions or by trading with other users.

Prepare front-end page

This step requires preparing a front-end page for display. To simplify the process, we will only prepare an html file and use nginx to expose the page. Of course, a cloud server is also needed to run the front-end page. This step is the same as deploying traditional front-end applications.

Bind the page to the blockchain domain name

After obtaining the blockchain domain name, you can bind your ANDL address on the official DNS website. You can also use the binding tool provided by the platform and follow the official guide to proceed.

After binding is complete, a listening port needs to be started on the server to receive HTTP requests and forward them as UDP. You can use the official rldp-http-proxy 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 the localhost to listen for incoming HTTP queries, and 3333 is the UDP port for all outbound and inbound RLDP and ADNL activities. global.config.json is the name of the global configuration file, which can be downloaded from the official website.

Access Blockchain Domain Name

Directly entering a blockchain domain name in the browser will not allow access to the website, as the browser does not know how to resolve this domain name. Therefore, some additional steps are required.

Requesting a blockchain domain name process

When accessing a blockchain domain, the corresponding ANDL address will first be queried on the chain. This address is similar to an IP address in Web2 and is automatically generated when deploying a website. This querying process can be compared to a DNS query.

Then, according to the ANDL address, the request will be forwarded to the corresponding machine, where the returned page can be specified. The entire process is similar to Web2, with the main difference being the different way of querying address and domain name mapping.

Access the page through a proxy

It is recommended to use the official proxy tool Tonutils Reverse Proxy. After downloading, installing, and starting it, a port 8080 will be opened for proxying, and then you can access blockchain domain names.

Summary of Use

Currently, the following issues have been encountered during use:

1. There are requirements for the website's operating environment. The system needs to support glibc version 2.34 or above, and the machine must be checked to ensure it meets the requirements before deployment.

2. The documentation is not clear enough. This may be due to low usage requirements, and the documentation is not comprehensive, requiring self-exploration. The Chinese documentation is updated slowly and lags behind the English version.

3. The access speed is relatively slow. It is slower than traditional websites, but there are many influencing factors, and there is significant room for improvement in the future.

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

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