Nodes meeting on Mar 31: the adjustment of the PoD block penalties

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Nebulas nodes meeting on March 31: about the adjustment of the PoD block generation penalties

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Meeting ID: NIP-CN-20200331

Time: March 31, 2020, 10:00-11:00 Beijing time

Participants (Nodes):

More than ten members participated, including MRH2 (Ravin), SNZPool (formerly Yuan Shuai), InfStones (Rudy), IBN (Zoey), ATP-NAS (Lobatt), GoBoost (Leec), and members of the Nebula Foundation: Hitters, Becky, Iris, Larry, and others participated in the speech

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Background:

NIP199-Marks Proposal: PoD Block Generation Penalties (by MarkAU) was approved on March 12th, and it is recommended to adjust the current block punishment rule. Click to see the introduction of the current block penalty rules Since then, Natoshi1 (Dustin), MRH2 (Ravin), GoogleNAS (Racho), SNZPool (Yuan Shuai), NASAU01 (Mark), InfStones (Sili), StackOfStake (Shestovsk) and other nodes have proposed 7 different proposals, click here View.

Goal:

The nodes in the Chinese community for the first time about the proposed modification of the block punishment rules. The nodes in the Chinese community introduced their proposals and reached a consensus.

Summary:

The basic rules of PoD should be simple enough, complex projects can be established independently.
In order to ensure the stability of the mainnet, if a node leaks a block, it must immediately affect the block stability index. However, freezing the NAS can be done immediately, and it is recommended to extend the operation to 10 polling cycles.
After another node meeting (in English) on Thursday, we will reach a consensus and submit 2-3 proposals on Go.nebulas. The final proposal will be confirmed on the first NAX governance vote on mainnet.

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Details:

1. Discussion on PoD block penalties rules:

MRH2 (Ravin):
Create an insurance mechanism. Encourage the establishment of the insurance business, that is, the majority of those that can normally produce blocks are now equal, and the premiums are evenly distributed. When there is an upper limit on the penalty mechanism, a property insurance model is designed based on past data and implemented directly on smart contracts.

Becky: It can be expanded in addition, and does not need to be done on the basic PoD. StackOfStake’s proposal has commented on MRH2’s proposal and has similar views that the insurance business can be made into an independent proposal.

Hitters: At present, the global epidemic is spreading, and large losses of MakerDAO have also occurred. If there is an effective insurance mechanism, this can be avoided. But insurance is the detection of defaults on the chain. Essentially it’s another topic, not the same as PoD.
For the Nebulas Foundation, ensuring the smooth operation of the basic system is the most important goal. Including PoD node operation, governance mechanism and so on.
Insurance can be extended from two other perspectives:

Dig deeper. The insurance business is not being promoted for the time being. The insurance business may be another project and it will be completed in three months. The first batch of beneficiaries can be node operators.
Breadth mining. Provide insurance services for products outside the Nebulas ecosystem such as MakerDAO and DeFi.

SNZPool (Yuan Shuai):
For severe cases, it is not recommended to immediately freeze the pledged NAS (within 1 hour). The block stability index can be adjusted immediately, but at least 10 polling cycles (about 10 hours) if the funds are frozen. Because the operator may not have discovered it in 1 hour, but it can be found in 10 hours.

Larry: The starting point of the original rule was to ensure the stability of the mainnet. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately process the nodes that cannot normally produce blocks.

Iris: Introduce the basic situation. The severity level is medium, which means that within a polling period, none of the 10 blocks is generated. The penalty is divided into 2 parts:

Affect the block stability index. The stability of the mainnet is ensured by the block stability index. Reducing the block stability index can ensure that unstable nodes will not affect the stability of the mainnet in the next polling cycle.
Freeze the NAS.

Agree with the 2 part split operation. The block stability index is adjusted immediately, but freezing the NAS can be postponed to 10 polling cycles.

Becky: Agree to split the penalty step. Immediately freezing the NAS will also cause nodes to fail to produce blocks because the deposit is less than 20,000 NAS, which will affect the nodes to adjust the missing blocks accordingly.

SNZPool (Yuan Shuai):
For severe cases, the current freeze of NAS and NAX at 100% is too severe *. There are also multiple sign errors, and the node operator may not be deliberate. Horizontally, for example, in the Cosmos ecosystem, the penalty for multiple signing is only 5%. It is recommended to adjust the freezing ratio not to exceed 10%.

Larry: High severity cases are mainly for double-spending, preemptive blocks, etc., and there are abnormal situations. It does not include ordinary missing blocks. Indeed, the proportion can be adjusted appropriately.

* NAS and NAX that have been frozen are not deducted immediately. A proposal can be appealed to apply for revocation of the freeze when the vote is administered. If the vote is passed, the governance node considers it excusable and can cancel the freeze.

InfStones (Rudy):
Don’t make rules that are too complicated, or they will be prone to bugs. Like DeFi, everyone has a good idea. In actual operation, the more complicated it is, the more prone it is to various problems. After horizontal comparison, I feel that the current penalties are feasible and do not need to be adjusted. Run with the simplest rules first.

Becky: If you encounter an adjustment server, you can click Pause Node in the node platform. Paused nodes will not turn out blocks in case they are accidentally punished.

ATP-NAS (Lobatt): Relevant services related to node monitoring must be followed up. If there is an email reminder, it must be available. Mailing lists are clearer than WeChat messages. I agree with Rudy that the rules should not be too complicated.

I.B.N. (Zoey): I agree with Rudy and Lobatt, the rules should not be too complicated.

2. Other suggestions:

Becky: Suggestions for follow-up processing are as follows:

Another meeting will be held in English on Thursday.
After the English meeting, 2-3 proposals will be summarized.
Have a final discussion.
At the first mainnet NAX governance vote, the governance node voted to confirm the final plan.

MRH2 (Ravin): The meeting result need to be exposed for easy viewing.

Hitters: Very good advice. Will be exposed below the corresponding proposal on Go.nebulas, and will also be exposed on the forum. We now have a new plan for NAS ID. NAS ID will follow through Go.nebulas, node platforms, forums, and other platforms. Improve user experience.

Leec: NAS ID is a service similar to ENS, which provides domain name service, but it is not exactly the same. Some products provide value-added services in addition to domain name services, services related to financial products, and user identity-related services such as KYC. Solve the relationship between blockchain identity authentication, security, and experience. We need to open up the relationship between the address and the user, the internal linkage of the ecology, and the linkage with the external ecology.

Hitters: It is recommended to do node exchanges every two weeks. Node exchanges should be normal, not just for the temporary organization of a proposal.
Facing the current epidemic situation, there are three suggestions.

The judgment of the industry. This is not a question of more money but less money, money will always be spent. The first thing to help you through the winter is your interest. With interest, you can prepare. In 2017-2018, many people simply went into the blockchain ecosystem simply for money, and most of them left.
The judgment of the Nebulas. What does Nebulas want to build? Transparent, open and co-constructed ecosystem. Nebulas will optimize the data dashboard in the second quarter. Make the information of nodes, blocks, marketing, and transactions public. Then promote the smooth operation of the PoD governance mechanism. The previous public chains were incompatible with each other. It needs to be more open. In the process of this attempt, there will be more or fewer problems in the process, which means that there is an opportunity for improvement. You need to learn from your peers and face the problem. Decentralization is a process, not a holy grail. We want to make blockchain more interesting, useful and effective.
Personal view. More connections, more open mind.