Filecoin Testnet Phase 2 is now live!

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Today is a big day for the Filecoin project. Six months ago, we launched the first phase of the Filecoin testnet. Since then, we have been working on bug fixes, protocol reviews, important protocol and product improvements, performing optimizations, and working hard to run a network with multiple interoperable nodes. Now, we are ready to launch the second phase of the testnet.

What does Phase 2 include?

Testnet Phase 2 is the last major milestone before the mainnet launch. Let’s take a look at what it includes.

The second phase of the testnet includes:

• Two interoperable Filecoin implementations: go-filecoin and lotus. Both implementations can be used by users to join the testnet phase 2. Launching a secure network with multiple implementations working together is an important part of the network security strategy, and we are excited to have two interoperable implementations ready for this launch.

• Proof of Security (WinningPoSt and WindowPoSt): Previous versions of the Filecoin Proof of Spacetime (PoSt) mechanism relied on probability theory to prove that rational miners would maintain all of their sectors and store user data correctly at the appropriate time. After analysis, we were unable to prove that this mechanism could provide guarantees for consensus based on secure storage computing power and a verifiable storage market. Therefore, the Filecoin protocol and implementation now use WinningPoSt and _WindowPoSt_, which require miners to regularly demonstrate the availability of all sectors they claim. This mechanism is used to eliminate the need to use the ElectionPoSt mechanism in the first phase of the testnet. This in turn greatly reduces the total number of sector samples required to run a node, ultimately reducing costs and improving the reliability of Filecoin storage. You will soon be able to read a detailed description of WinningPoSt and WindowPoSt in the Filecoin protocol specification.

• Drand: Drand is a distributed random beacon network. Nodes on the Drand network work together to generate collective, publicly verifiable, unbiased, and unpredictable random values ​​at fixed intervals using bilinear pairings and threshold cryptography. These random values ​​can be used in applications like Filecoin that require an unbiased source of randomness. Filecoin now uses Drand as an external source of randomness for leader election to reduce the risk of oppression attacks and other consensus attacks. Currently, go-filecoin and lotus extract Drand values ​​from the Drand testnet. For the launch of the mainnet, we plan to work with multiple teams to launch a Drand network that supports the mainnet. We hope that this publicly verifiable random beacon can help other protocols that need unbiased randomness.

• Cryptoeconomic Structure: Filecoin uses a combination of existing cryptoeconomic models and a number of new structures to meet the unique requirements of the network. We published a high-level overview of this structure on our blog. For the launch of Testnet Phase 2, the Filecoin implementation now includes a hybrid exponential decay function for block rewards, committed capacity sectors, quality-adjusted storage capacity, and an improved collateralization mechanism. These mechanisms are designed to incentivize storage miners to improve the long-term health and quality of service of the network. In Testnet Phase 2, we will test and refine these mechanisms and update our cryptoeconomic parameters.

• New Docs URL: Our new Docs URL will be a documentation resource for developers, clients, and storage miners. It includes explanations of key concepts in the Filecoin protocol, and also provides guides on how to run go-filecoin , lotus , and how to join the second phase of the testnet.

• Security Review: In addition to the comprehensive and ongoing reviews conducted by Filecoin team members, we have begun working with the best security firms in the world to audit a dozen critical Filecoin libraries and systems before launch.

The launch of the second phase of the testnet contains a near-complete implementation. In the coming weeks, we will complete feature development work on go-filecoin and lotus , upgrade our proof of replication (PoRep), and continue testing, bug fixes, and performance improvements. In the coming months, we will also have network upgrades and several network resets as we work to ensure that Filecoin can launch the mainnet in a few months.

How to participate in the second phase of the testnet

Join our network! Whether you are a storage miner, user, or developer, the best way to understand how Filecoin works and how it can support your use case is to run a Filecoin implementation to join our network. Please visit the Filecoin documentation website to learn more about how to run go-filecoin or lotus to join the second phase of the testnet.

Hack the network and report bugs: You can help us better by helping us find bugs!

• If you find issues with the protocol, please file them here: specs repo on GitHub

• If you find a bug in lotus, please report it here: lotus repo on GitHub

• If you find a bug in go-filecoin, please file an issue here: go-filecoin repo on GitHub

• If you need to report a security vulnerability in a protocol or implementation, please refer to the Publication Specification

Start building! Every week, we see new developers exploring and using Filecoin as a storage platform for their applications. We’ve been highlighting some of the use cases and developers in the community who are building essential tools and services in our Filecoin Community Highlights series. For example, Textile is developing plug-and-play tools for Filecoin app developers and Small Data Industries is using the Filecoin network to create tools to archive and preserve the world’s record of artwork.

If you are a developer interested in developing on the Filecoin network, we hope you will come and talk to us! Please contact us at [email protected].

Have more questions?

Welcome to the second phase of the testnet and the Q&A with Juan Beni.

On Tuesday, May 19th, at 10:00 AM Beijing Time , join us for an online Q&A with Juan Beni, founder of the Filecoin project. For an hour, Juan and several other Filecoin developers will be online to answer your questions about Testnet Phase 2 and the launch of the mainnet.

How to participate:

• Register an account on the Filecoin project Slack page.

• You need the Sli.do link to enter the event page to ask questions. We will post the link to the event on Slack #fil-ama and WeChat at 10am on May 19th.

• Please read the Filecoin Community Code of Conduct before participating in the Q&A. Please respect each other during the event.

• This is an opportunity to ask questions about Filecoin technology and testnet phase 2 – please do not discuss speculative topics such as token prices, exchanges, etc.

• We will try to answer as many questions as possible during the event, but depending on the volume of questions, we may not be able to answer everyone's questions.

• After the event, we will publish a summary of the Q&A session on the Filecoin blog.

Looking forward to your participation!

grateful

Thank you to the thousands of miners, developers, clients, and testers who have patiently tested and improved Filecoin over the past few months. You have made valuable contributions to improving the security and performance of the Filecoin network and protocol.

Ultimately, Filecoin's mission is to create a distributed, efficient, and powerful foundation for human information. Thanks to everyone's efforts and the efforts of Filecoin's research and engineering teams, we are closer than ever to launching a public chain empowered by valuable services, reliable storage services, and a thriving distributed economy.

Thank you for joining this global community. We look forward to continuing to build this technology and ecosystem with you.