Alibaba Cloud Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) supports two blockchain engines — Hyperledger Fabric and Ant Blockchain — each with its own deployment model. Choose your engine and usage mode based on how your consortium is governed.
Hyperledger Fabric usage modes
BaaS provides two usage modes for Hyperledger Fabric: quick mode and standard mode. The boundary between the two modes is flexible — choose based on your organization's role in the consortium.
The following descriptions are for reference only. There is no strict boundary between the two modes.
Choose a usage mode
| Quick mode | Standard mode | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | A single enterprise leads the consortium and invites others to join | A commissioned enterprise operates the consortium infrastructure on behalf of participants |
| Operator role | The leading enterprise acts as both operator and business participant | A dedicated enterprise acts as operator only — not a business participant |
| Participant role | Other enterprises join as business participants | All business enterprises join as participants |
| When to use | Your organization starts the consortium and actively participates in business transactions | Your organization manages the blockchain infrastructure but does not participate in business transactions |
Quick mode
Use quick mode when your organization starts or leads the consortium and also participates in business transactions.
In quick mode, the leading enterprise creates the consortium blockchain, adds business participants to the network and channels over time, and holds both the operator and business participant roles simultaneously. Other enterprises join as business participants only.
Roles:
Operator and business participant — the leading enterprise that creates the consortium and participates in business transactions
Business participants — other enterprises invited to join the consortium blockchain and channels
Standard mode
Use standard mode when a commissioned enterprise manages the consortium infrastructure on behalf of other business participants, without participating in transactions itself.
In standard mode, the operator creates the consortium, invites enterprises to join the consortium blockchain and the corresponding channels, and handles all consortium management. The operator does not participate in business transactions. All business activity is carried out by participant enterprises.
Roles:
Operator — the commissioned enterprise that creates and manages the consortium; does not participate in business transactions
Participants — business enterprises that join the consortium blockchain and channels to conduct transactions
Ant Blockchain usage mode
The Ant Blockchain usage mode follows a consortium lifecycle: the consortium owner creates the network, invites members, and members join and start accessing the blockchain.
How the Ant Blockchain consortium works:
The consortium owner applies to create a consortium blockchain.
The consortium owner invites enterprises to become consortium members.
Invited enterprises accept the invitation and join the consortium.
Consortium members access consensus nodes and start reading and writing data on the blockchain.
