Node Application 10548477641, submitted 2019-02-22 9:49:40

Respondent Id 10548477641
Application Date 2019-02-22 9:49:40
Application Language English
Applicant City Baton Rouge
Applicant State/Province LA
Applicant Country United States
What languages do you speak? English
What is your occupation? Privacy/Security
How many years experience in your field? 16+
What is the highest degree or level of school you have completed? Doctorate or other terminal degree (for example, PhD, EdD)
Please describe your experience in the Crypto/Blockchain space, if any? Teach/research blockchain tech.
Are you an individual or a group? Individual
Node City Baton Rouge
Node State LA
Node Country United States
For which networks Have you ever operated a node? Bitcoin (BTC, BCH, etc), Ethereum (ETH, ETC, etc)
What kind of improvements would you like to see in Elixxir nodes vs. previous the previous nodes you have supported? Better transaction rates and privacy.
What are potential setbacks preventing you from operating an Elixxir node? None.
What is a reasonable maximum connection speed on which you could operate a BetaNet node in your geographic region? (Where 0 = 10 Megabits/second, and 100 = 10 Gigabits/second) 50
What is a reasonable uptime estimate you can provide for your BetaNet node? (As a percentage) 98
Please estimate the cost of electricity in the geographic area where your BetaNet node will be running. . Electricity paid for by the university
On a monthly basis, how much time can you publicly commit to dedicating toward governance if you were selected as a BetaNet node operator? (Where 0 = 1 hour/month, and 100 = 20 hours/month) 24
If you were selected to run a BetaNet node, would it run on your own hardware or be deployed to cloud-based servers? Hardware
In what type of environment would this server be located? University / Academic Institution
Do you have past experience deploying hardware servers in a datacenter? Yes (please describe)
Do you already own sufficient hardware to meet the published Elixxir BetaNet node specifications? Yes (Please list specs)
Yes (Please list specs) Intel i7, 8 cores, 64GB RAM. Other higher spec hardware available.
Do you have hardware you would like to use but does not meet the stated BetaNet node specs? If so, please provide specs on that hardware below: No.
Do you have past experience deploying servers to cloud-based services? Yes (please specify)
Yes (please specify) Yes, but we do not intend to use cloud-based services for Elixir.
Why do you want to be a node? Research, exposing students to blockchain technologies.
How did you originally hear about Elixxir? Word of Mouth
Which current Elixxir communities are you a member of?
Are you an active member of those communities? No
What specifically, interests you about the Elixxir platform? Improved blockchain application performance, privacy.
Outside of Elixxir communities, are you an active participant in other node or developer community groups? If so, which ones? N/A
Have you ever attended a blockchain conference? If so, which one(s)? N/A
As part of growing the Elixxir community, are you willing to create content as part of operating an Elixxir BetaNet node? Examples would be node setup & on-boarding review vlog post, bi-weekly twitter update, medium review of on-going node operational process, etc. Yes (how much content on a monthly basis?)
If yes, how much content on a monthly basis? periodic twitter updates, vlog posts, medium posts as appropriate.
What is the difference between decentralized networks and distributed networks, and where on the decentralization spectrum do you sit?
As best as you can given currently available information, please describe the value proposition of the Elixxir platform and how it differs from other current blockchain solutions.
Privacy by Default is a goal of the Elixxir Platform. In your opinion, why is Privacy by Default critical for the future of the internet?
Tags Individual, United States, English

We have received a number of node applications from academics like this applicant. What are the pros and cons of applications like these?

My personal opinion.

Pros:

  1. New ideas/research from academics and students
  2. Familiarize the masses with the project

Cons:

  1. Universities are usually Government funded hence attempting to replicate the technology for further Government use. (Any belligerent Government)
  2. Man in the middle (unless mitigated by the network architecture - I am not technically versed)

Interesting question here. I actually thought about locating my application in a research institution, but finally chose my home instead, even if I still don’t have a clear idea of what would be best for Elixxir. It’s probably case dependent. For instance, besides the pros mentioned by Andrew.Partiz, (some) Universities may offer better connection uptimes and speeds, and they would represent some kind of institutional support for the network. But, on the other hand, some Universities may have (now or in the future) restrictive policies regarding blockchain node operation in their facilities, especially if there is some kind of government crackdown on privacy-oriented distributed networks.

I wonder whether it would be possible to operate an Elixxir node through a VPN. I guess the answer is probably not, because of the speed reduction it normally entails.

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