Empowering Layer2 with Perma Blobs Archive Service: Leveraging Arweave for Decentralized Data Permanence

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4EVERLAND

5 min readApr 15, 2024

Technology is in constant innovation, and 4EVERLAND never stops.

On March 13, 2024, following the Cancun upgrade, Ethereum’s Layer2 successfully utilized Ethereum Blobs as the Data Availability (DA) layer, significantly reducing the storage costs associated with the DA layer. However, despite this advancement, Blobs as the DA layer still has limitations — data stored on-chain through Blobs is only valid for 18 days, after which it may be at risk of loss. While 18 days provide ample time for verifying transaction credibility, it poses challenges for the initial state restoration of Layer2.

Currently, some enterprise service providers offer Beacon archive services to provide full transaction data for Layer2. However, these services are not decentralized on-chain and cannot ensure the permanent availability of data. In response to these challenges, 4EVERLAND has introduced the “Perma Blobs Archive Service,” utilizing Arweave as the Layer2’s Blobs Archive Service. This strategic shift leverages Arweave’s natural advantages of decentralization and permanent storage, making it highly suitable for this purpose.

We believe that this innovation will have a greater impact on Ethereum Layer2. It not only provides a persistent solution for data availability but also paves the way for scalability, security, and decentralization performance in Layer2. With long-term reliable data storage support, developers can focus more on developing and deploying Layer2 applications, thereby promoting innovation and development in the Layer2 ecosystem.

With more developers joining and more Layer2 projects being deployed, the Perma Blobs Archive Service is expected to see an expansion and become an essential key infrastructure in the Layer2 ecosystem.

What is the Perma Blobs Archive Service?

The Perma Blobs Archive Service, conceived by 4EVERLAND, serves as the Beacon Blobs Sidecar RPC for Layer2 services, initially catering to OP Stack. It is an open-source tool designed to allow Layer2 project developers to use OP Stack to construct a Layer2. By simply synchronizing and running the Perma Blobs Archive Service and configuring the relevant information in the setup file, every transaction of the Layer2 will be uploaded to Arweave.

Consequently, anyone wishing to run an Archive RPC node for that Layer2 or challenge the transactions already aggregated on Layer1 can access the transaction data of that Layer2 from the Perma Blobs Archive Service stored on Arweave for state restoration purposes.

Arweave has always emphasized permanent storage. Besides technical capabilities, we believe that integrating Arweave’s permanent storage technology closely with various Layer2 ecosystems is the key to making permanent storage truly useful for the industry. This is a practical and efficient technological integration that opens up broader prospects for the development of the blockchain ecosystem.

Implementation Principles of the Perma Blobs Archive Service

The Perma Blobs Archive Service comprises two core modules for storing and retrieving transaction data.

Storing Transaction Data on Arweave

Developers initiate the Perma Blobs Archive Service and configure three parameters (inbox address, start block number, batcher address) in the setup file. The service will then begin monitoring transactions on Layer1 from the specified start block number, sent from the Batcher address to the inbox address, and synchronize and upload the blobs data to Arweave.

Retrieving Data from Arweave and Reconstructing Local Index

When developers need to launch a full RPC node locally, they simply need to invoke the Perma Blobs Archive Service as the Beacon archive service for reading. The service will retrieve on-chain data using the Arweave dedicated gateway and return it in the standard Archive Service format. Therefore, developers can launch a full RPC node without making any additional modifications to the RPC code.

The Perma Blobs Archive Service is an open solution combined with multiple gateway services to ensure decentralized, reliable data storage, and access.

During the process of storing transaction data on Arweave, Perma Blobs Archive Service utilizes Arweave’s bundle and other functions to ensure high availability and flexibility of data upload, thereby enhancing the stability and reliability of data upload and reducing the risk of data loss.

In the process of retrieving and rebuilding local indexes from Arweave data, the Perma Blobs Archive Service can also integrate with the Arweave gateways to ensure the efficiency and stability of data retrieval and accelerate the data retrieval process, Provide better access performance, This ensures that developers can quickly and accurately rebuild local indexes and initiate full RPC nodes, contributing to a robust and reliable data storage and retrieval system.

Summary

The launch of the Perma Blobs Archive Service provides a highly efficient and reliable Data availability solution for Layer2 projects. Data availability emphasizes the accessibility and persistence of data within a system or network. Arweave’s advantage lies in its permanence, ensuring the long-term availability of data and enabling full open access to data retrieval. Therefore, the combination of Arweave with the Perma Blobs Archive Service is a powerful advancement, heralding a new era of robust data management for Layer2 projects. We firmly believe that with the application of this innovative tool, the Layer2 ecosystem will gain greater stability and sustainability, laying a solid foundation for the further evolution and application of blockchain technology.

Furthermore, Arweave will pave the way for seamless connections across multiple ecosystems. With the Perma Blobs Archive Service, we envision a future where second-layer platforms operate harmoniously, fostering a dynamic and interconnected blockchain landscape.

About 4EVERLAND

4EVERLAND is a Web3 infrastructure powered by blockchain technology that provides developers with convenient, efficient, and low-cost storage, network, and computing capabilities. It is committed to helping developers smoothly transition from Web2.0 to Web3.0 and building a Web3.0 cloud computing platform friendly to Web2.0.