By: Geeq  on Oct 28, 2019

The blockchain as a platform (BPaaS) and blockchain as a service (BaaS) technologies are developing so quickly and subtly that the vocabulary to describe them has not caught up. Even though there are many articles on blockchain, the same words may be used imprecisely or as informal substitutes for different concepts. No wonder blockchain seems confusing to so many people! An important part of our mission is to remove those barriers.

To ensure everyone remains on the same page when thinking about Geeq BPaaS and BaaS, we’ve constructed this ‘Glossary of Geeq™’. This is where you will find our definitions for blockchain terms, and we will do our best to explain them in plain words, use them consistently and link to them across our materials. This is designed to help you wade through some of the technical jargon in blockchain so you can really appreciate the revolutionary new blockchain protocol which is Proof of Honesty.

Editor’s note: This was our first version of the Glossary, published on GeeqOfficial’s Medium publication. We now have a Glossary section on the website, with short articles for each term.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Agents = People who control the nodes, systems, and machines that are participating in a network. The nodes are the elements that may validate a blockchain.

Block = Blocks are packages of validated data/transactions.

Blockchain = A blockchain is a type of distributed database that is made up of blocks of validated transactions chained together.

¡Explainer! How is a blockchain different from a conventional database?

For the technical reader: A blockchain is any data structure that is ordinally and recursively linked to create an order of transactions or other information by block. Thus, our definition includes a very broad category of databases: it includes all blockchains powered by any variant of Proof of Work (PoW), Proof of Stake (PoS), Distributed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs), and Proof of Honesty.

Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) = Is the tolerance level of a network-based upon their ability to nullify the efforts of malicious nodes. If the BFT level is 51%, it means that the network can be reliable until 51% or more of the nodes are malicious. So the higher the better!

¡Explainer! Why is Byzantine Fault Tolerance a common concern for distributed databases?

Consensus = This definition is intended to be a very general, catch-all category used to describe the rules, protocols, or mechanisms that determine how blockchains are constructed.

Crash = Is where a node fails to deliver a result in a transaction due to a failure.

Decentralized = The opposite of centralized. Decentralized is where power, data, and responsibility is no longer placed with a single entity, government or party.

Dishonest Node = A node that does not provide proof that it is working with a ledger that has always followed the validation protocol.

Edge Security = Edge Security is unique to Geeq and designed for mass adoption. Along with Proof of Honesty, it provides a way for users who are not technically proficient to ensure they are not defrauded or fooled by dishonest nodes that have manipulated the blockchain.

¡Explainer! Edge Security is critical because end users are in control of what they use, not the technology.

Geeq = A public blockchain infrastructure-as-a-service that is secured by our Proof Of Honesty protocol (PoH).

Geeqchain = An instance of a Geeqchain is any blockchain that uses Geeq’s validation protocols and architecture.

Genesis Block = The first block in a blockchain which contains the code that determines the rules for the rest of that blockchain.

Honest Node = A node who provides proof that it is working with a ledger that has always followed the validation protocol.

Internet of Things (IoT) = While IoT is a broad term, it mainly relates to the convergence of different technologies which allow us to: gather real-time data, communicate remotely, automate and connect previously unconnected objects. These connected smart objects could be anything from mains water pipes to your household fridge.

Leader = In many other blockchains, a node is designated as a Leader to propose a block of transactions to be validated by other nodes.

Ledger = A record of transactions that have been made on the network.

Nodes = The machines that are able to participate in a blockchain network. Nodes generally refer to the elements that may validate a blockchain. Geeq defines a subset of nodes as “active nodes”, which are the nodes who are participating in the Geeq network at that moment of time. Nodes are run by agents.

Proof of Honesty= Geeq’s unique blockchain protocol.

Protocol = The set of rules which decide how data is exchanged and transmitted on a blockchain system.