How Sharding Improves Layer 2 Scaling Solutions

Hello everyone, How are you doing, I welcome you again to my blog in the Steem Alliance community.

Today, we will discuss an interesting topic on the platform which will be: Sharding in Layer 2 Scaling Solutions

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• Introduction

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Sharding is simply the process of breaking up a blockchain into smaller pieces, whereby it is more easier-to-manage, and scale up a network, every shard can handle its transaction, expanding the main blockchain limit so as to avoid network congestion.

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For this case, we have what are called Rollups and state channels, which are Layer 2 scaling solutions that process transactions off the main chain and then post the results back to it to improve blockchain scalability, therefore these Layer 2 solutions' scalability can be further improved by integrating sharding.

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How Sharding Improves Layer 2 Solutions

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Through Rollups

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Rollups is a layer2 scaling solution that packs different transactions into a single batch, which is then handled off-chain. then, they subsequently send them to the main chain, reducing the scalability issues on the main chain. When rollups and sharding are combined:

There will be Increased Workload: Since each shard can process rollups independently without the main chain, therefore the total number of transactions that can be handled simultaneously can be more.

The Network will be more Efficient: Shards can disperse multiple transactions at a time, reducing congestion and improving transaction speeds.

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State Channels

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State channels allow different sorts of transactions between networks to happen off-chain, where Just the opening and closing transactions are recorded on the main chain. Integrating sharding with state channels gives:

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Allows Equal Processing: Every shard can deal with different state channels, allowing different transactions to happen between exchanges and they are as well simultaneously.

Reduced Lags: Sharding helps to distribute the network between traffic, reducing the total time it takes to complete a transaction instead.

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Some Case Studies of This Implentation

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Ethereum 2.0

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Ethereum 2.0 is one of the significant updates that integrate sharding to upgrade its network scalability, the network aim is to divide the Ethereum network into 64 shards, each of which will be able to process smart contracts and transactions.

These updates therefore make ETH2.0 more straightforward to coordinate Layer 2 agreements, making it a scalable and more effective network for decentralized applications (dApps).

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PolkaDot

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Polkadot is a blockchain network that uses a sharding-like system called parachains, where each parachain functions independently, the main relay chain allows it to communicate with other parachains.

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And with this implementation, the network also has found it as an alternative to be more scalable and more efficient generally.

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Conclusion

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Integrating sharding with Layer 2 scaling solutions like rollups and state channels shows a favorable way to accomplish scalability and efficiency in blockchain networks, implementations in projects like Ethereum 2.0 and Polkadot have shown the capability of what this feature can do in the blockchain systems.

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