Implementations
Nodes are participants that contribute to the network’s operation and maintain its integrity. There are two major node implementations running on the Filecoin network today, with more in the works.
Lotus
Lotus is the reference implementation of the Filecoin protocol, developed by Protocol Labs, the organization behind Filecoin. Lotus is a full-featured implementation of the Filecoin network, including the storage, retrieval, and mining functionalities. It is written in Go and is designed to be modular, extensible, and highly scalable.
Venus
Venus is an open-source implementation of the Filecoin network, developed by IPFSForce. The project is built in Go and is designed to be fast, efficient, and scalable.
Venus is a full-featured implementation of the Filecoin protocol, providing storage, retrieval, and mining functionalities. It is compatible with the Lotus implementation and can interoperate with other Filecoin nodes on the network.
One of the key features of Venus is its support for the Chinese language and market. Venus provides a Chinese language user interface and documentation, making it easier for Chinese users to participate in the Filecoin network.
Implementation differences
While Lotus and Venus share many similarities, they differ in their development, feature sets, focus, and community support. Depending on your needs and interests, you may prefer one implementation over the other:
Compatibility
Both Lotus and Venus are fully compatible with the Filecoin network and can interoperate with other Filecoin nodes on the network.
Features
While both implementations provide storage, retrieval, and mining functionalities, they differ in their feature sets. Lotus includes features such as a decentralized storage market, a retrieval market, and a built-in consensus mechanism, while Venus includes features such as automatic fault tolerance, intelligent storage allocation, and decentralized data distribution.
Focus
Lotus has a more global focus, while Venus has a stronger focus on the Chinese market. Venus provides a Chinese language user interface and documentation, making it easier for Chinese users to participate in the Filecoin network.
Other implementations
Forest
Forest is the Rust implementation of the Filecoin protocol with low hardware requirements (16 GiB, 4 cores), developed by ChainSafe. Forest is focused on blockchain analytics, and does not support storage, retrieval or mining.
Forest is currently used for generating up-to-date snapshots and managing archival copies of the Filecoin blockchain. Currently, the Forest team is hosting the entire Filecoin archival data for the community to use. This can be downloaded for free here.
You can learn more about Forest at the codebase on GitHub and documentation site.
Lotus
Lotus is a full-featured implementation of the Filecoin network, including the storage, retrieval, and mining functionalities. It is the reference implementation of the Filecoin protocol.
Interact with Lotus
There are many ways to interact with a Lotus node, depending on your specific needs and interests. By leveraging the powerful tools and APIs provided by Lotus, you can build custom applications, extend the functionality of the network, and contribute to the ongoing development of the Filecoin ecosystem.
Lotus API
Lotus provides a comprehensive API that allows developers to interact with the Filecoin network programmatically. The API includes methods for performing various operations such as storing and retrieving data, mining blocks, and transferring FIL tokens. You can use the API to build custom applications or integrate Filecoin functionality into your existing applications.
Lotus CLI
Lotus includes a powerful command-line interface that allows developers to interact with the Filecoin network from the terminal. You can use the CLI to perform various operations such as creating wallets, sending FIL transactions, and querying the network. The CLI is a quick and easy way to interact with the network and is particularly useful for testing and development purposes.
Custom plugin
Lotus is designed to be modular and extensible, allowing developers to create custom plugins that add new functionality to the network. You can develop plugins that provide custom storage or retrieval mechanisms, implement new consensus algorithms, or add support for new network protocols.
Source contributions
If you are interested in contributing to the development of Lotus itself, you can do so by contributing to the open-source codebase on GitHub. You can submit bug reports, suggest new features, or submit code changes to improve the functionality, security, or performance of the network.
Hosted nodes
Many hosting service provide access to Lotus nodes on the Filecoin network. Check out the RPC section for more information
More information
For more information about Lotus, including advanced configuration, check out the Lotus documentation site lotus.filecoin.io.
Venus
Venus is an open-source implementation of the Filecoin network, developed by the blockchain company IPFSForce. Venus is built in Go and is designed to be fast, efficient, and scalable.
Venus is a full-featured implementation of the Filecoin protocol, providing storage, retrieval, and mining functionalities. It is compatible with the Lotus implementation and can interoperate with other Filecoin nodes on the network.
One of the key features of Venus is its support for the Chinese language and market. Venus provides a Chinese language user interface and documentation, making it easier for Chinese users to participate in the Filecoin network.
Venus also includes several advanced features, such as automatic fault tolerance, intelligent storage allocation, and decentralized data distribution. These features are designed to improve the reliability and efficiency of the storage and retrieval processes on the Filecoin network.
Interact with Venus
Here are some of the most common ways to interact with Venus:
Venus API
Venus provides a comprehensive API that allows developers to interact with the Filecoin network programmatically. The API includes methods for performing various operations such as storing and retrieving data, mining blocks, and transferring FIL tokens. You can use the API to build custom applications or integrate Filecoin functionality into your existing applications.
Command-line interface
Venus includes a powerful command-line interface that allows developers to interact with the Filecoin network from the terminal. You can use the CLI to perform various operations such as creating wallets, sending FIL transactions, and querying the network. The CLI is a quick and easy way to interact with the network and is particularly useful for testing and development purposes.
Contribute to source
If you are interested in contributing to the development of Venus itself, you can do so by contributing to the open-source codebase on GitHub. You can submit bug reports, suggest new features, or submit code changes to improve the functionality, security, or performance of the network.
More information
For more information about Venus, including advanced configuration, see the Venus documentation site.