Powerhouse Enterprise Protocols: A Comparison of Hyperledger Fabric vs Hyperledger Besu

Of the projects from the Hyperledger Foundation, Hyperledger Fabric and Hyperledger Besu are two of the most prominent platforms, each catering to different needs within the enterprise blockchain ecosystem.

This post provides an overview of both platforms, highlighting their similarities, differences, and use cases to help developers and enterprises make an informed decision about what protocol might be best for their project.

Introduction to Hyperledger Fabric and Hyperledger Besu

Before we dive into comparisons, here’s a brief introduction to each platform.

Hyperledger Fabric is a permissioned blockchain framework that provides a foundation for developing applications or solutions with a modular architecture. It is known for its flexibility, security, and scalability.

Hyperledger Besu, on the other hand, is an open-source Ethereum client developed under the Apache 2.0 license and written in Java. It supports not only the Ethereum public network but also private networks, consortium networks, and test networks. It is designed for enterprise use with a focus on modularity, security, and privacy.

Key Comparisons

To better understand how Hyperledger Fabric and Hyperledger Besu stack up against each other, let's delve into their core features, architecture, consensus mechanisms, and privacy options.

Architecture

Fabric: Utilizes a modular architecture that allows network designers to plug in their preferred components like consensus and membership services. It separates the transaction processing into three phases: distributed logic processing and agreement ("chaincode"), transaction ordering, and transaction validation and commitment. This separation enhances the network's performance and scalability.

Besu: Follows a more traditional blockchain architecture similar to that of Ethereum. It supports smart contracts and DApps (Decentralized Applications) written in Solidity or Vyper and operates on a full-node basis in Ethereum networks.

Consensus Mechanisms

Fabric: Supports pluggable consensus mechanisms that can be tailored to the trust model of a network, including options like Solo, Kafka, and Raft for development and production environments respectively.

Besu: Offers various consensus algorithms such as Proof of Work (Ethash), Proof of Authority (Clique, and IBFT 2.0), catering to both public and private network needs.

Privacy Options

Fabric: Provides extensive privacy features, including channels for private transactions and data segregation, as well as private data collections that allow for confidential transactions that are not stored on the ledger but are still verifiable.

Besu: Implements privacy through private transactions and private contracts, using Orion as a privacy manager. It allows nodes to maintain a private state that is separate from the public state of the blockchain.

Smart Contract Languages

Fabric: Uses Chaincode, which can be written in Go, Java, or Node.js, allowing for a more diverse development ecosystem.

To learn more about how to write smart contracts on Fabric, check out this video from our resource library.

Besu: Utilizes Solidity or Vyper for smart contract development, consistent with the Ethereum ecosystem.

Use Cases and Industry Fit

Hyperledger Fabric is best suited for businesses requiring stringent privacy and permission controls, with a need for modular architecture.

Its ability to create private channels and support various consensus mechanisms makes it ideal for industries like finance, healthcare, and supply chain logistics.

Hyperledger Besu is designed for organizations looking to leverage the Ethereum network, whether on public, private, or consortium blockchains. Its compatibility with Ethereum's tools and DApps makes it a great choice for developers aiming to build decentralized applications. We’ve seen Hyperledger Besu adoption accelerate in the financial space. Coupled with our support, our clients are finding Besu is a natural fit in tokenization and digital asset use cases.

About the Hyperledger Foundation

The Hyperledger Foundation is a collaborative effort created to advance blockchain technology. It's part of the Linux Foundation and was established in December 2015.

The foundation's mission is to support the development and adoption of blockchain-based platforms that are designed to be robust, scalable, and capable of supporting a wide range of business applications.

Hyperledger does not support Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. Instead, its focus is on the infrastructure and tools needed for developing enterprise blockchain systems.

Hyperledger hosts a number of blockchain technology projects including distributed ledger frameworks, smart contract engines, client libraries, graphical interfaces, utility libraries, and sample applications.

Beyond Fabric and Besu, some of the well-known projects include Hyperledger Sawtooth, Hyperledger Indy, and Hyperledger Iroha.

Our Commitment to the Hyperledger Foundation Runs Deep.

Kaleido is a Hyperledger Certified Service Provider and our founders are actively engaged with the Hyperledger Foundation. Sophia Lopez serves on the Governing Board as a General Member representative and Jim Zhang is a part of the Hyperledger Foundation Technical Oversight Committee. Members of our team are also maintainers of Hyperledger Besu.

On top of our personnel involvement, we contributed Hyperledger FireFly to the community. This brought to market the first open-source web3 middleware, a platform for tokenization, multi-chain interoperability, and building blockchain-based applications.

To learn more about how Kaleido’s top-tier support can help you get new projects live quickly, schedule a talk with one of our solution architects.