Month: January 2022

Posted on

Oracle Fusion Apps Data Integration with OAC Data Replication

Oracle Fusion Apps Data Integration with OAC Data Replication

Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) Fusion Business Intelligence Cloud Connector (BICC) Data Replication is one of the simplest and least-maintenance methods for feeding Fusion Cloud Apps data into a data warehouse. OAC Enterprise edition includes Data Replication for Fusion Apps as a standard feature. If you’re converting an on-premises application to Oracle SaaS, such as E-Business Suite, you’re presumably aware that the ability to directly connect to the Oracle SaaS transaction database for data extraction isn’t normally available, except for limited use with BI Publisher type reporting. Fusion BICC, on the other hand, provides a robust technique to enabling data extraction from Fusion Apps.

BICC pulls data from Fusion App view objects and saves it to Oracle Cloud files (OCI). OAC’s BICC data replication simplifies the process of configuring, scheduling, and monitoring the entire process of extracting data from BICC into Cloud storage and subsequently importing the same data into a data warehouse. While this does not provide ETL-like capability, it does streamline the end-to-end process of extracting data from Fusion apps and storing it in relational table structures in an Oracle database. These target relational tables can then be reported on directly or modified for more advanced analytics.

Here are, in my opinion, the key advantages of using OAC Data Replication from Fusion Apps:

  • Oracle Managed: It is a built-in feature of OAC and therefore requires no software install or maintenance. Data Replication jobs are configured, scheduled, and monitored entirely from within an internet browser, within the OAC portal.
  • Supports Extracts of Custom Fusion BICC Offerings and Custom PVOs: If your Oracle SaaS implementation team has setup custom data sets in Fusion, and therefore ended up with custom View Objects, these may also be exported with OAC Data Replication.
  • Filter the Data Extraction: The configuration screens of OAC Data Replication allow for setting up filters that are enforced while the Fusion data is extracted. These filters may be useful to avoid pulling in older data, or to segregate organization-specific information into dedicated target databases.
  • Support for Incremental Loads: The process of setting up an incremental data extract strategy from all the different Fusion data source views is a time-consuming task. However, this is all easy to setup with the configuration screens available in OAC Data Replication.
  • Handles Deletes: While BICC natively doesn’t automatically take care of identifying which records in a source view got deleted, it has a mechanism to identify the primary keys of the views in their current state. But these keys will then have to be compared to the keys in the data warehouse target table, in order to identify any deleted records and therefore process the deletes. This whole process is automatically performed by OAC data replication by checking a box on the OAC configuration screen for a view object.
  • Track Historical Changes: Some Fusion PVOs keep track of changes as certain attributes are updated over time. OAC Data Replication offers an option to maintain these changes in the data warehouse as well. This option enables linking fact data to dimensions that behave in a similar manner to traditional slowly changing dimensions (SCDs).
  • Scheduling of Data Loads: OAC Data Replication allows for scheduling the data extracts and loads from Fusion Apps at various intervals. This may be once a day, but also multiple times throughout the day. In fact, more essential data extracts can be configured to run as frequent as on an hourly basis to offer near real-time reporting, when required on smaller data sets.

While OAC Data Replication for Fusion Apps does offer some great functionality, there are restrictions that may render it unsuitable, depending on how you envision the holistic view of your future state data warehouse. Here are some of the reasons why it may not be adequate:

  • Lack of Data Transformation: Like the name infers, OAC Data Replication, solely offers an easy way to replicate Fusion SaaS data into a data warehouse. It doesn’t really allow for data transformation prior to the data load. Think of it this way: the result of the replication is a populated staging area of a data warehouse. If you need to apply transformation, another technique needs to be used after the Fusion data is replicated over. For instance, OAC Data Replication itself won’t be able to merge and transform the Fusion sourced data based on information sourced from outside Fusion. To do this, first replicate the Fusion data and then integrate with the non-Fusion data as a separate downstream process.
  • Restriction to Load into Oracle Databases: OAC data replication from Fusion Apps only loads data into an Oracle Database or an Oracle Autonomous Database. So, if for example, you have a need to get Fusion data into Azure or another non-Oracle database, you will have to follow a two-step process to first replicate into an Oracle DB and then into your final destination. As a result, if your main destination is non-Oracle, you may want to consider one of the other approaches to extracting data from Fusion Apps, as described in my other blog post.
Posted on

What exactly is Bitcoin mining? Everything You Need to Know

What exactly is Bitcoin mining

Since its introduction in 2009, Bitcoin has been fairly popular among modern investors. Given that bitcoin has a straightforward operating method and that investors do not need to be gizmos or tech fanatics to grasp how it works, bitcoin attracts a varied range of buyers, including technical specialists, high-end investors, and everyday people. By creating an account on the Bitcoin network, one can simply transfer bitcoins to someone in any part of the world.

What exactly are Bitcoins?

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital money that is created, circulated, traded, and stacked using a record system known as a blockchain. Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonymous individual, launched the cryptocurrency in January 2009. Bitcoin was the first virtual currency to make a splash and become extremely popular due to its low transaction fees when compared to other online payment methods.

What exactly is Bitcoin mining?

Bitcoin mining is a method that allows new bitcoins to enter the market by solving exceedingly challenging computational math problems with high-end and sophisticated computers. The procedure is painful and costly, but it has attracted many investors because they are rewarded with crypto tokens with enormous value.

  • Mining generates bitcoin without requiring any investment on the part of the miners.
  • Miners are compensated with bitcoins for finishing large blocks of validated transactions. These bitcoins are added to the blockchain.
  • Miners that come up with answers to complex issues are rewarded.
  • A graphics processing unit (GPU) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) will be necessary to set up a mining rig.

How can I get Bitcoins?

The key motivation for people to mine is the payoff in the form of Bitcoins. However, mining is not a one-stop-shop for acquiring bitcoin tokens.

Bitcoins can be purchased by exchanging traditional currency.

You can exchange them for another cryptocurrency, like Ethereum or NEO, on an exchange platform like BitStamp.

Some online platforms and shopping portals reward users with bitcoins in exchange for blog entries and purchases.

Users compensate bloggers with a proprietary cryptocurrency known as STEEM, which can be sold for Bitcoins, on crypto blog platforms such as Steemit.

What Rules Apply to Bitcoin Transactions?

Regulating and examining Bitcoins is a difficult undertaking because the money is decentralised and cannot be managed by a government or a central bank. As a result, miners are generously compensated in order to motivate them to execute the twin function of mining and administration. They also serve as auditors, analysing Bitcoin transactions and putting an end to the double-spending problem.

What exactly is double-spending?

It is a one-of-a-kind concern that is solely tied to digital currencies, with blockchain knowledgeable persons simply duping digital information. As a result, the owner uses the same Bitcoin twice.

Bitcoin miners examine each transaction to determine if any Bitcoin has been used twice. Miners are reimbursed with Bitcoins when they complete the verification of 1 MB worth of transactions, often known as a Block. Depending on the extent of the data utilised by the transaction, these 1 MB transactions can be single or many.

Satoshi Nakamoto set the 1 MB restriction, which has been a source of contention ever since. Why? Miners believe that the block size is too small, given the time and work required to validate the complicated transactions.

Not every person who verifies transactions will be paid. This is determined by two factors:

  • The fundamental need for completing 1MB worth of Bitcoin transactions.
  • Only the first miner to find a solution to a complex problem will be rewarded. This is known as proof of work.

Proof of Work (PoW) is a method that requires a significant amount of effort to investigate malicious computer activity, such as sending spam emails or providing false services. Hal Finney expanded the approach to digital money in 2004. Bitcoin is the first sophisticated implementation of Finney’s PoW principle.

Bitcoin mining and circulation

Mining not only enriches miners’ pockets, but it also promotes the introduction of new cryptocurrencies into circulation. Mining is the sole way for new Bitcoins to be created. According to coinmarketcap.com, there were around 18.5 million bitcoins in circulation in November 2020.

The first Bitcoins were mined from the mother block (genesis block), which was the first block created by the founder. Miners helped to circulate every single Bitcoin mined from the genesis block. Without these miners, the first Bitcoins would have merely been a working network with no way of bringing in new ones for transactions. Furthermore, analysts think that mining Bitcoins will eventually cease due to the decline in the rates of mined currency, and that there may be no Bitcoin in circulation until 2140.

However, miners will continue to scrutinise transactions in order to pay miners and keep the Bitcoin network running.

Miners are also granted the ability to vote anytime a proposal is submitted in the Bitcoin Network, in addition to the compensation. Miners have the ability to sway any modification to the Bitcoin software protocol. This is referred to as forking.

Bitcoin Mining Requirements

Previously, one could mine bitcoins on an ordinary home computer. Unfortunately, due to the increasing complexity of Bitcoin mining, this is no longer practical.

  • The network proposes that a block be generated every 10 minutes to enable smooth blockchain operation and transaction verification.
  • Bitcoin has a one-of-a-kind design that evaluates and fine-tunes mining difficulty every two weeks or after creating 2016 blocks. This is done to allow many mining rigs to compete for a single hash problem, resulting in substantially faster results.
  • When more rigs compete for Bitcoin mining in order to stabilise block output, the difficulty level of mining rises.
  • To have a greater mining probability, miners should have a powerful and complex computer unit, such as a GPU or an ASIC, which can range in price from $500 to $10,000. As a result, some miners undertake mining operations using individual graphic cards.

Is Bitcoin Mining Profitable?

Before diving into Bitcoin mining, miners must examine a number of variables. While mining equipment and electricity use are costly, the returns are enormous. This is what attracts so many miners to the Bitcoin network. The likelihood of a miner solving a hash puzzle first is directly related to the network’s mining strength. Miners with a higher mining power percentage have a better probability of solving a block independently.

What exactly is a Mining Pool?

Miners with limited mining strength may be unable to solve a block on their own, resulting in a loss. Mining pools may be able to fix this problem.

Third companies operate and maintain mining pools. The pool is made up of a collection of miners who are coordinated by third parties. Miners split the costs and earnings amongst themselves. A pool has a better chance of solving a block than an individual miner. The flow of bitcoins in a mining pool is consistent and begins when the miners are turned on.

The Dangers of Bitcoin Mining

The biggest challenges encountered when mining Bitcoin are financial and legal dangers. As previously stated, the equipment employed is pricey, resulting in a significant financial loss if not compensated.

Certain governments have outlawed the use of bitcoins. Miners should think about their region and its legal stance on Bitcoin before diving in.

The mining process has an environmental impact because the equipment consumes a lot of electricity and leaves carbon footprints.

For the time being, mining bitcoin is all we have.

If you want to learn more about blockchain technology, we recommend consulting with Winklix as your Blockchain Technology experts.

T

Posted on

What Is an Initial DEX Offering (IDO) and Why Do We Need Them?

What Is an Initial DEX Offering (IDO) and Why Do We Need Them?

What Is an Initial DEX Offering (IDO)?

An initial DEX offering, or IDO, is a new and exciting type of decentralized and permissionless crowdfunding platform, which is opening up a new way of fundraising in the crypto space. 

If a project is launching an IDO, it means the project is launching a coin or token via a decentralized liquidity exchange. This is a type of crypto asset exchange that depends on liquidity pools where traders can swap tokens, including crypto coins and stablecoins. For instance, USDT/ETH is a liquidity pair.

On CoinMarketCap’s ICO calendar, there is a list of upcoming, live and past projects that are fundraising. The projects are categorized based on the various stages of its fundraising – IDO, IEO, private sale, public sale and crowdloan. As of August 2021, the past few months of projects fundraising are IDOs, perhaps signalling its popularity as a fundraising method.

IDO – a Better Crypto Fundraising Model?

IDOs are the successor of other crypto fundraising models, including initial coin offerings (ICOs), security token offerings (STOs) and initial exchange offerings (IEOs). Offering better and immediate liquidity at every price level due to its mechanics, IDOs are an excellent choice for new projects and startups keen to launch a token and access immediate funds.

Unlike the aforementioned fundraising methods, IDOs are generally considered a fair way to launch a new cryptocurrency project by avoiding pre-mines, which is an issuance system that favors project founders over community members.

The first ICO was the Mastercoin ICO in July 2013. In 2014, Ethereum raised money with a token sale, raising 3,700 BTC in its first 12 hours, roughly equivalent to $2.3 million at the time.

The first IEO took place on April 17, 2019, launching on the Idax, BitForex, Bit-Z and Bit-M exchanges. Whereas, in June 2019, Raven Protocol announced that it was introducing the first-ever IDO, which would be listed on Binance DEX.

What Are Some Successful Projects Launched From IDOs?

Despite being the first, and even claiming in their blog that they didn’t know what an IDO was as it hadn’t been done at the time, Raven Protocol is considered a successful project. 

Raven Protocol IDO

This is a decentralized and distributed deep-learning training protocol of deep neural networks. The Raven Protocol is working at providing cost-efficient and fast solutions that use the blockchain to transform the AI and machine learning industries, which are currently dominated by major corporations. With the aid of the native RAVEN token, contributors receive rewards by sharing their computer resources while the utility token is used for AI training.

Universal Market Access Protocol IDO

Another successful IDO project launch, even though its IDO had initial issues, is the Universal Market Access (UMA) protocol. This enables DeFi developers to build synthetic assets on Ethereum, which are collateral-backed tokens whose value changes. Last April, it launched its token sale via decentralized exchange Uniswap with a starting price of $0.26 per token. In order to get that price, UMA had to place $535,000 in Ethereum into a newly created liquidity pool.

Notably, though, because token pricing on Uniswap works with a bonding curve rather than order books, the UMA token price quickly ramped up as investors lined up to purchase the token. As a result, traders attempted to get ahead of others by paying higher gas costs, which, ultimately, led to UMA’s token price jumping more than $2 minutes after the launch. It eventually stabilized at just over $1, with some buyers complaining that they bought at a higher price than pre-sale investors. This, however, highlights the issue with Uniswap rather than UMA.

Despite this initial setback, UMA currently has a market capitalization worth over $1.5 billion, with one token costing more than $25.

SushiSwap IDO

Another similar example is that of SushiSwap, a decentralized crypto exchange built on Ethereum, which is attempting to take the place of Uniswap as the most popular Ethereum-based decentralized exchange. Last September, SushiSwap users reportedly migrated over $1.14 billion of Uniswap’s locked crypto assets to the SushiSwap platform.

Interestingly, rather than issuing an ICO for SushiSwap, the platform rewarded liquidity providers (LP) on Uniswap by staking their LP tokens on SushiSwap. For this, users were rewarded in SUSHI tokens. During SushiSwap’s first two weeks, 1,000 SUSHI tokens were issued every Ethereum block, roughly every 12 seconds, to users who staked their Uniswap LP tokens on SushiSwap’s initial protocol.

Why Do We Need IDOs?

When ICOs and token sales became popular in 2017, raising an estimated $4.9 billion by the end of the year, many projects were attempting to solve problems using the blockchain. While many have gone on to succeed, with far more failing, it’s hard to avoid the fact that there are several issues with ICOs: they’re centralized and vulnerable. Other notable weaknesses of ICOs include third-party discrimination, vulnerability to theft and human error and a lack of privacy.

With the decentralized nature of IDOs, this new fundraising model is attempting to solve the issues of ICOs while adding new possibilities to the crypto market. By crowdfunding with IDOs, entrepreneurs can release a blockchain product that goes beyond malicious third-party influencers, while eliminating any issues regarding hackers and human error. Not only that, but token buyers and holders’ coins are instantly secured on their wallet and private keys.

Advantages of an IDO

An initial DEX offering has many clear advantages compared to initial exchange offerings (IEO) and initial coin offerings (ICO).

Let’s list a few of those here.

When raising funds for a project through an IEO or ICO, projects are first required to pay exchange fees and wait for a project to receive approval by the exchange before it’s listed. With IDOs, projects don’t have to pay high fees and don’t require anyone’s permission as it’s a completely decentralized offering. 

Additionally, instead of waiting for an exchange to approve a project, vocal community members are the ones who vet projects and tokens, which opens the door for small projects and massive collaborations.

Compared to IEOs and ICOs, which involve an initial waiting period, IDOs provide immediate access to liquidity and trading. Added to that, IDOs help streamline users by delivering a secure wallet and trading platform support that’s built into one interface. It’s also possible for IDOs to support several types of wallets, thus simplifying the user’s experience.

Where Are IDOs Headed in the Future?

IDOs are the newest way for crypto projects to get their tokens out to the public, but just with ICOs, IEOs and STOs, improvements are still needed. This is evidenced by UMA’s IDO. With IDOs, though, a decentralized exchange means there is a lack of control mechanism. When it comes to fundraising, it’s important to have some form of control to remove token price changes or have KYC regulations, which are noted in ICOs, IEOs, and STOs.

Another improvement that should be focused on is scalability. Right now, only decentralized finance (DeFi) projects have raised money through IDOs; however, that’s not to say other projects within the crypto space can’t use this form of crowdfunding. Of course, for these projects to take off, they’ll need some interest from existing DeFi users to invest in a project’s token. 

Why? Simply because using DeFi platforms is a learning curve, which may be a barrier to the average crypto trader. Another improvement would be to boost awareness and education of DeFi as this industry grows.

The concept behind crypto is to open the doors of finance by making it decentralized. IDOs are one step to making this happen, but who’s to say if a new project is the next best thing or a rug pull waiting to happen? Consequently, it’s difficult to say if a particular coin is worth X amount.

Another factor to consider is that despite the rising interest in IDOs, centralised exchanges such as Binance or Coinbase still have control over the market. Investors aren’t asking when the next IDO listing is taking place. Right now, they’re interested in when Coinbase is going to list a specific coin. Of course, this will most likely change as awareness grows around decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and DeFi in general.

The future of IDOs could be bright, but more awareness is needed. Not only that, but DeFi users are only a small fraction of the overall crypto market that is still a relatively niche field, but exponentially growing in size. That being said, as of August 2021, based on CoinMarketCap ICO calendar, the past few months of projects fundraising are largely IDOs.