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Problem:

How to increase the decentralization and resilience of the Cardano network?

Cardano Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) currently run on cloud based computing solutions or bare metal. There is an increasing risk of over-reliance on big tech cloud solutions which could deny service if so desired. On the other side, bare metal means expensive hardware up-front cost and maintenance which creates entry barriers for small/single stake pool operators. Currently a large percentage of the Cardano Network is cloud based with overreliance on big tech.

This brings great risk to the growth and reliability of the Cardano network.

Solution:

NuNet, a spinoff of SingularityNet, allows to run arbitrary computing workflows on community provisioned hardware and provides payment gateways directly from software or application

We are offering a 3rd way -- infrastructure for running Cardano staking pools on NuNet provisioned community hardware.

With this project we will enable two Cardano layer networks to run on the decentralized hardware (community supplied) and interact between each other.

This would greatly increase the resilience and true decentralization of the Cardano network on the fundamental level and ensure that the network is decentralized from ground (hardware) up.

Current status:

NuNet can provide an alternative to the cloud based and dedicated host solutions. Based on the research at the link below, the Cardano decentralized network runs on around 4 big infrastructure providers controlling about 57.2%.

DigitalOcean 20.2%

Amazon 15.4%

Google 13.0%

Hetzner 8.8%

Source: https://nasec.co.uk/2020/12/28/cardano-decentralisation/

(See image attachment #1)

Overview:

Cardano network architecture has two levels:

(1) remote nodes / passive relay nodes running on the 'internet' and

(2) and node processes running on a single computer.

(See image attachment #2)

The 1st part of the Cardano architecture as depicted in attachment #2, has already been implemented by the NuNet team in the preparation for the implementation of the 2nd part, which is the subject of this proposal.

Please see the live demo by Kabir Veitas below on the implementation of the first part of Cardano Network as explained above -- Running Passive Cardano Nodes on NuNet provisioned community hardware.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHETx8FaRn0

In short, passive nodes can be run by any volunteer who wants to support the Cardano network and indicates that when onboarding a computer onto the NuNet platform. NuNet launched a private alpha at the beginning of September, 2021 and has improved on features and bug fixes with feedback from the community (see: https://medium.com/nunet/nunet-private-alpha-part-3-interacting-with-singularitynet-platform-7279a7f4e574 ). Note, however, that currently NuNet runs on testnet and therefore it has no security features implemented as yet.

Major functionalities to be implemented by this proposal (2nd part of Cardano network):

• Secure sandbox on user provided compute device: In order to allow stake pool operators to run their pools on other peoples' hardware, node running containers have to be completely isolated from host machines, and vice versa. Common containers such as LXC, Docker and Podman do not offer the needed sandboxing for this type of application. Containers created with these technologies allow the host device to have full access to a container's filesystem and that is highly undesirable when considering Cardano Nodes. If there's a possibility for the compute provider to enter a container deployed by another user using the NuNet infrastructure and be able to observe the filesystem, it would be considered a critical breach of security even if we know the provider possesses no ill intentions. Hence the project will aim to implement completely secure sandboxes on host machines.
• Secure shell access for the node operator: Stake pool operators need to have secure shell access to the nodes that they are running. Such access is straightforward when running nodes on local machines, but is highly complex when a secure shell should be routed to decentralized hardware. The current NuNet infrastructure applies encryption to all p2p communication, however, when considering running Cardano Nodes on a decentralized network, secure shell access to an instance is a large undertaking. This is solved simply by large cloud compute providers due to their machines belonging to the same cluster of servers within a certain datacenter. However, on a fully decentralized swarm of machines distributed all around the globe communicating over a p2p overlay network, the secure shell access for Node Operators is challenging. NuNet platform aims to provide this functionality -- specifically oriented to SPO computing and developed in this project.
• Infrastructure to run node processes for stake pools and paying for required decentralized hardware via the native NTX on Cardano network. NuNet will allow Cardano nodes to pay directly to the hardware on which they will be running;
• Data persistence: While NuNet will incentivize machines that run Cardano nodes to be as accessible as possible, in a decentralized network, node availability is usually lower than in centralized computing centers. While NuNet automatically redeploys computing workflows, including Cardano nodes, that exit due to failed nodes, this cannot cause too much data loss. In the project we will design approaches, allowing data to be persisted even if computing nodes fail.

Milestones:

• Completely secure sandbox: at this stage NuNet sandboxes on user provided compute devices can fully prevent unauthorized access to the filesystem and processes running within the sandbox.

• Secure shell access between node operators and node instances on community provided machines: at this stage, node operators have the ability to use their instances much like VPS from Cloud providers are utilized.

• Machine activity metric and compute device availability: at this stage, the performance and availability of user provided machines is measured in order to assign the most reliable and robust machines to Cardano Block Producing Node deployment.

• Tokenomics and Reward Simulation: at this stage, reward for compute providers and gains of stake pool operators is simulated and adjusted to avoid pitfalls in economic feasibility.

Deliverables:

• NuNet onboarding infrastructure for compute providers, allowing to join devices to the network, manage their usage constraints and preferences, including but not limited to ability to participate in the Cardano Network by running Cardano Nodes on a voluntary basis or for token remuneration.
  - 3 months after award
• Secure Sandboxes on selected community provisioned machines
  - 3 Months after award
• Reliable, secure and steady shell access between deployment instances/Cardano Node and job owners/node operators
  - 4 Months after award
• Simulation of Node availability, network robustness and reward system on NuNet platform
  - 6 months after award
• Portal / and local apps for users to monitor their nodes and the overall platform system health which includes 
  - 6 months after award
• Reward system that takes into account utilized system resources and rewards for Node Operators.
  - 6 months after award
• Testing and bug fixes running tests with real world scenarios and fixing bugs
  - Ongoing

Budget allocation:

The scope of work in implementing the 2nd part as envisioned requires a much greater team.

Team    Function                                                  Person/months        People     Salary      Total   

    1       Technical Project Lead                             7                          1         $4,000     $28,000
    2      Backend Development                             14                         2         $3,000    $42,000
    3      Security Engineering                                 7                          1         $6,000    $42,000
    4      Frontend/UI Development                       14                          2        $3,000    $42,000
    5      Blockchain development(Plutus)              7                          1         $3,000    $21,000
    6      Protocol Engineering                                 7                          1         $3,000    $21,000

            Total                                                                      56                              8                          $196,000

Of this scope, NuNet will cover expenses amounting to $76,000 therefore the project's requested amount is $120,000. 

Definition of success:

• 3 months after award: Deployment infrastructure to deploy Cardano Nodes on community compute devices
  - Functional Secure Sandbox deployment on community compute devices
  - Progress report on secure communication protocols and architecture

• 6 months after award : Demonstration of secure communication protocol between node owner and instance on community compute device 
  - Tokenomic reward system simulation 
  - Network simulation of device turnaround, data persistence and mitigation strategies
  - Onboarding of first Cardano Stake Pool Operators to run pilot

• 7 months after award : Public Alpha release of NuNet infrastructure that supports deployment of Cardano Nodes for Stake Pool Operators with all aforementioned features.

• 12 months after award : Several (1-10) Cardano Stake Pool Operators onboarded and running part of the processes on NuNet provisioned hardware.

• 12+ months : Continuous onboarding of new SPOs

Risk analysis and mitigation:

Too few compute providers - If network doesn't contain enough compute providers available for running Cardano Nodes because of their substantial requirements for compute resources, a compensation structure will be implemented wherein the SPO pays a monthly rate of NTX to compute providers, similar to how they would pay for monthly access to cloud computing. Additionally, NuNet will provide certain amount of its own hardware resources for the purpose of balancing the network and ensuring availability at all times.

About NuNet:

Nunet is a spinoff project incubated by SingularityNET, founded and envisioned by Dr. Ben Goertzel, Dr. Kabir Veitas and Dr. Weaver DR Weinbaum.

Intro: https://nunet.io/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nunet_video_with_closing_page.mp4

Nunet enables A Global Economy of Decentralized Computing by allowing anyone share and monetize their computing resources at scale and provides globally-distributed, optimized computing power for decentralized networks.

Web page: https://nunet.io/

NuNet will launch its NTX native token simultaneously on two blockchains -- Ethereum mainnet and Cardano. NTX-on-ETH token utility will be deployed with the release of the public Alpha, while NTX-on-Cardano utility is planned to be deployed in Q1 2022.

Compute consumers will be able to compensate for compute power via NTX gateway and AGIX from/to NTX gateway.

Full Cardano integration and the first step towards true cross-chain utility with enabling the 1:1 conversion of NTX-ETH from/to NTX-ADA. Implementation of the tokenomic system on Plutus and making Solidity and Plutus contracts to work within the same system.

Platform fundamentals: https://medium.com/nunet/nunet-private-alpha-part-2-platform-fundamentals-c2f5405f6346

Nunet and SingularityNET:

The goal and vision of cooperation lies in SingularityNET AI ecosystem which will leverage Cardano (main and hydra layers) while computation will be done on hardware provided by NuNet -- creating a powerful interdependence.

An article by Dr. Ben Goertzel, CEO of SingularityNET: https://medium.com/nunet/nunet-as-a-platform-for-a-democratic-decentralized-beneficial-global-brain-c3ebd662f2cf

Running SingularityNET AI services on NuNet: https://medium.com/nunet/nunet-private-alpha-part-3-interacting-with-singularitynet-platform-7279a7f4e574

Extended info of the team:

• Dr. V. Kabir Veitas - AI researcher & software architect; co-founder & CEO, NuNet.io
  https://www.linkedin.com/in/vveitas/

Main developers:

• Dagim Sisay - NuNet tech lead
  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dagim-sisay-7b4b05b8/
• Yibarek Yohannes - BSc in Electrical and computer engineering
  https://www.linkedin.com/in/yitbarek-yohannes-7b044714b/
• Israel Abebe Azime - MSc in Machine Learning
  https://www.linkedin.com/in/israel-abebe/
• Tewodros Kederalah - BSc in Electrical and computer engineering
  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tewodroskederalah/

The NuNet team is supported by SingularityNET human resources on-need basis while rapidly expanding organically after successful token launch on 17.11.

https://medium.com/nunet/nunet-community-contribution-round-completed-5543ce39915f

The vision:

The Nunet team is dedicated to giving power back to the people, and by decentralizing the computing layer of the Cardano. SPOs can choose NuNet as an alternative to big tech cloud solutions. In that way all providers of the hardware, no matter their size, can contribute to decentralization and are incentivized in doing so.

Creating a positive feedback loop: More NuNet usage → higher decentralization and adoption → more resources required → higher NuNet usage.

With powerful incentives in place, all members (SPOs, NuNet hardware providers, ADA holders, network users) of the Cardano community will benefit from the positive feedback loop.

With Cardano, SingularityNET and NuNet all codependent and united, ethical and beneficial goals can be translated to Artificial Intelligence, free and independent from big tech influence.