Explain briefly the various types of blockchain architecture and its components. Mention which type is more efficient and useful in terms of usability?
Blockchains are divided into three categories,
i.) Public blockchain architecture
ii.) Private blockchain architecture
iii.) Consortium blockchain architecture
Public blockchain architecture: It means that access to the system is available to anyone who wants to use/participate in it. Some well-known examples of such public blockchain architecture are Bitcoin, Ethereum and various other cryptocurrencies
Private blockchain architecture: Unlike public blockchain architecture access is restricted to certain users and can only be used by them and not available to the public.
Consortium blockchain architecture: This structure is made up of few organizations and protocols and usage are set up and controlled by a previously assigned set of users.
When we talk about centralization, a private blockchain is considerably centralized by a particular group and has increased privacy whereas a public blockchain is pretty decentralized and hence not so secure. In a public blockchain, all records are visible, and anyone can take part in the verification process.
Hence we can conclude that public blockchain architecture is not so eco-friendly since it takes a lot of time for verification since it is public and has a higher number of nodes and requires greater computational power when compared to private blockchain architecture.
