Cardano Kubernetes Orchestra: A decentralized end-to-end blockchain indexer API for Cardano

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Maestro Team

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

info@gomaestro.org

Additional applicants

NA

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

6

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

Yes

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” .

The project will depend on the following organizations and their respective open source projects:

• IOG: Cardano Node, Cardano DB Sync
• TxPipe: Scrolls, Pallas

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

Project will be fully open source.

[METADATA] Category of proposal

Dev Tools, API or Library

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

PART 1 (current proposal)

Kubernetes is the most popular workload orchestration platform in the world. It has become a staple for deploying software to support production environments, particularly for web3 companies. This is no different in Cardano. Many stake pool operators and dapp developers build their software as Docker containers and deploy them onto Kubernetes.

Decentralized Orchestras

A Maestro Decentralized Orchestra is composed of the following workloads and services:

• Cardano Node
• Cardano DB Sync
• DB Sync Koios functions
• Scrolls Reducers
• Redis database
• Postgres database
• REST API for querying Postgres and Redis serving blockchain data

Requirements for running an Orchestra

• A Kubernetes cluster

PART 2 (future proposal)

Vet and onboard Orchestra operators to distribute query traffic from a load balanced proxy to Orchestras around the world. This is similar to the approach taken by Koios and Freeloaderz.

PART 3 (future proposal)

Public monitoring dashboard and auto rotations based on the health of orchestras.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

The Maestro Orchestra is a tool that will alleviate the burden of running Cardano infrastructure and make it easy for dApp developers to interact with the network: point to a Kubernetes cluster and apply an Orchestra operator.

Cardano developers can leverage powerful infrastructure code to bootstrap quick and efficient access to the network. They can also contribute to the repository to help improve the Kubernetes operator for the entire ecosystem. This will create a network effect that we have already seen in many open source Cardano projects.

Orchestras are being leveraged internally as part of the Maestro platform. This effort will help expand our platform to the rest of the ecosystem as part of a feature-complete open source project.

As a result of this project, developer onboarding onto the Cardano ecosystem will be much easier and will lead to Cardano becoming a top blockchain for building dApps and collaborating with the rest of the ecosystem.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

There are a number of key ways to measure the success of this project

• Cardano developer adoption: the number of organizations leveraging orchestras to build dApps
• Github activity: stars, issues opened and closed, and forks
• Survey sent to the community to gather user data and address feedback

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

The project will be an actively maintained Github repository in the maestro-org Github organization.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Maestro has a proven track record in providing Cardano infrastructure services: Blockchain Indexer, Transaction Manager and Turbo Transaction. In particular Maestro’s indexer endpoints averages 300,000 requests / day and is being used to power top projects and dapps on Cardano. This project is an extension of what Maestro has already built internally.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The final deliverable of this project will be a Github repository that includes the following:

• The Kubernetes operator implementation to facilitate the management of an Orchestra
• Instructions for how to install and use the operator

The repository will be actively maintained during the allotted development time until the final deliverable described above is fully implemented. Before completion, any code that is made public will be freely available to use by any developer in the ecosystem.

The ultimate goal of this project is for it to become a key piece of open source infrastructure in the ecosystem. The Orchestra will significantly decrease the time it takes for Cardano developers to access on-chain data and build scalable dapps.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestone 1 - Implement first draft of the Orchestra operator

Timeline: 2 months

Tasks:

• deploy a syncronized Cardano Node
• deploy a Cardano DB Sync
• deploy a DB sync Postgres database
• deploy DB sync Koios functions 

Milestone 2 - Implement second draft of the Orchestra operator

Timeline: 2 months

Tasks

• deploy Scrolls
• deploy Redis datastore
• deploy a REST API service

Milestone 3 - Extensively test the Orchestra operator

Timeline: 1 month

Tasks

• Test the operator locally and in top cloud providers
• Fix any issues that may arise

Milestone 4 - Finalize repository and documentation

Timeline: 1 month

Tasks

• Write extensive documentation and tutorials
• Officially announce release

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Deliverable 1 - Implement first draft of the Orchestra operator in the public repository

Key features of the Orchestra operator:

• Cardano Node
• Cardano DB Sync
• DB sync Postgres database
• DB sync Koios functions 

Deliverable 2 - Implement second draft of the Orchestra operator in the public repository

Key features of the Orchestra operator:

• Scrolls
• Redis
• REST API service

Deliverable 3 - Extensively test the Orchestra operator

Key features of the Orchestra operator:

• Fully tested operator locally and in top cloud providers
• Addressed all potential issues

Deliverable 4 - Finalize repository and documentation

Key features of the Orchestra operator:

• Extensive documentation and tutorials
• Official release

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Deliverable 1 - Implement first draft of the Orchestra operator

$55/hr x 2 devs x 9 weeks x 20hr/week = $19 800 

Deliverable 2 - Implement second draft of the Orchestra operator

$55/hr x 2 devs x 9 weeks x 20hr/week = $19 800 

Deliverable 3 - Extensively test the Orchestra operator

$55/hr x 1 devs x 5 weeks x 20hr/week = $5 500 

Deliverable 4 - Finalize repository and documentation

$55/hr x 1 devs x 4 weeks x 10hr/week = $2 200 

TOTAL ($) = $47 300

TOTAL ($0.3/ADA) = 157 666 ADA

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Blockchain infrastructure projects are considered highly valuable in a blockchain ecosystem due to the critical role they play in supporting and advancing the overall technology. They form the foundation of any blockchain network, providing the necessary architecture, protocols, and tools required for the functioning of the system.

Maestro’s Decentralized Orchestras will be a base layer tool that any dapp developer can use to quickly access and leverage the Cardano network.

The services budget is according to or below standard rates for these professional services in Europe or the USA.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept