Hyperledger Fabric development lifecycle

Question

I was wandering what is the "best" practice in ordering the steps for the HF development cycle? Here are some questions organized in different topics.

1. Specification of network infrastructure:

1. What are the mandatory members in one business network definition (organizations, peers, ca)?
2. How many pears do we need in our business network (bn)?
3. I am aware of the semantic in relationship between the channel and the peer, but I am not sure about the relationship between the peer and the organization? Also, what if just one organization (org1.example.com) will use the developed network, how to specify the endorsement policy in that use case (since we need at least two organization in chaincode instantiate command specification)?

2. SDK development lifecycle

1. When we develop SDK (Node.js), in order to interact with our BN what are required CA certificates needed for our SDK app to be able to connect and issue chain-code functions?
2. How to issue the CA certificates needed for SDK app?

3. Chain-code development lifecycle

1.If I am using the CLI docker container for management of my BN, is it a good practice to git clone my chain-code to CLI and then to install it and instantiate it to certain peer node?

2.After I change my go chain-code, do I need to install it again with the different id to the same peer, or I can just update the existing instance of my chain-code?

My idea is to make this question sort of place where we can add all the relevant questions about these three topics, so please edit and add additional questions! Thank you for your answers.

Answer 1

Let me try to answer your questions:

What are the mandatory members in one business network definition (organizations, peers, ca)?

The only mandatory network entities are peers and ordering service. Of course to be able to define anything you should have a notion of organizations the parties which are going to transact. Each such party expected to have a number of peers which running chaincodes (smartcontracts) on organization behalf. CA is required to issue certificates and bind peers and clients identities to certain organization.

How many pears do we need in our business network (bn)?

The desired number of peers is completely up to your business logic and requirements, need to accommodate expectations for availability, scalability and your trust model (endorsement policies).

I am aware of the semantic in relationship between the channel and the peer, but I am not sure about the relationship between the peer and the organization?

Peer is the network entity which executes chaincodes on behalf of given organization increasing the organization confidence in correctness of execution results.

Also, what if just one organization (org1.example.com) will use the developed network, how to specify the endorsement policy in that use case (since we need at least two organization in chaincode instantiate command specification)?

You do not have to have at least two organizations to define endorsement policy, while with one org is a bit redundant since, default endorsement policy is to have some peer from the channel to sign on endorsement request.

When we develop SDK (Node.js), in order to interact with our BN what are required CA certificates needed for our SDK app to be able to connect and issue chain-code functions?

You do not need CA certificate, but you need a client certificated signed by root CA to prove client identity and enable peer to validate whenever client has correct access rights.

How to issue the CA certificates needed for SDK app?

You can use fabric-ca to enroll use and get client certificate, or you can simply leverage cryptogen to produce client certs for you.

If I am using the CLI docker container for management of my BN, is it a good practice to git clone my chain-code to CLI and then to install it and instantiate it to certain peer node?

Here is the thing, peer cli is a bit abused, since it's primary usage is to rapid testing in development and for demoing. The proper way to communicate with Hyperledger Fabric is by using SDK's, e.g. you basically need to implement a client which will be capable to install and instantiate chaincodes based on your own logic and parameters relevant for your application.

After I change my go chain-code, do I need to install it again with the different id to the same peer, or I can just update the existing instance of my chain-code?

You have an upgrade procedure which pretty well covered in Hyperledger Fabric documentation. Or you can see a short demo on video.

My idea is to make this question sort of place where we can add all the relevant questions about these three topics, so please edit and add additional questions!

Please consider to login into Rocket.Chat and use #fabric channel to ask your questions.

Additionally please take a look on documentation, since most of the information and details about your questions could be found there and it constantly being updated.