Failure of Cloudflare roughtime Was a Blessing for Eth 2.0 Testnet

avatar
(Edited)

This was one of those times when someone's failure contributes to other's success. A bug helped detection of another bug!

Last week, a simple bug crashed the Ethereum 2.0 Medalla testnet.

When Medalla testnet was implemented, I thought that release of ETH 2.0 is quite close now. But this crash implies that several things need to be ironed out before the final release.

The real culprit of crash was a bug in Cloudflare roughtime service which got out of sync by 4 hours. Cloudflare provides this free time service; and Ethereum's Prysm clients depend on Clouflare's service to update time for all its validator nodes. So the time bug in Cloudflare roughtime resulted in the ultimate crash of Medalla testnet.

However, Prysmatic Labs developers have now published a fix for this bug which helped in putting the testnet back on track.

Since it was on a testnet, it doesn't seem any major issue. Afterall, testnets are meant for detection of such bugs and other flaws that need to be resolved before the final release. So in fact, this incident was a blessing for the testnet as it helped in figuring out this bug.

Detection and fixing of all flaws and bugs is very important during the testnet stage. That's why, I say that Cloudflare's failure was a blessing for Medalla testnet.

But what I was wondering about is, what if Cloudflare roughtime kept functioning smoothly during the testnet stage and this problem happened after the launch of Mainnet? How would it be dealt then!

I thought many people will think similarly and ETH prices may fall temporarily. So I sold half of my ETH holdings but the price drop wasn't any significant
Such things happens with me only :)



0
0
0.000
14 comments
avatar

That why! They take the time to release a product that will work in production.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yeah, time ...we've been waiting for ETH 2.0 for almost an eternity!

0
0
0.000
avatar

The problem people are not patient in this space and want everything immediately. Software development takes a lot of work, energy, and time. ;)

0
0
0.000
avatar

amen, crypto is too much of a dopamine hit for new entrants, they start day trading, looking at charts all day and losing money long term

takes 1 full market cycle for a crypto investor to understand the market and start making serious money simply by investing wisely and being patient!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Wealth building is by consistency and actions each day that makes a huge difference in the long run.

0
0
0.000
avatar
(Edited)

WoW 😳 ! That would have suck ! What would have been the impact on the Ethereum mainnet? Would hacker be able to attack the network? Profit from this bug?

@tipu curate

0
0
0.000
avatar

If it were to happen on mainnet, it would have been really devastative for Ethereum network. But that's what testnets are meant for anyway.

To me, it only implies that ETH 2.0 will be delayed by some more time ...dunno really. Profit? Nothing significant. I bought back my ETH in the recent dip :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

Indeed, it takes a long time but let’s be hopeful !

0
0
0.000
avatar
(Edited)

You sold half your ETH holding because the ETH 2.0 test-net had a bug? dude...

0
0
0.000
avatar

Don't worry, I bought it back in the recent dip. I was just speculating on this news.

0
0
0.000
avatar

My advice is be careful day-trading like that, in the long run you might get rekt on fees or end up triggering costly taxable events. Trading doesn't beat holding, particularly if you're a retail trader

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yeah, I realized this during this trade when it seemed difficult to find my way back at one point. Thankfully, it ended up well. I took this risk to earn just a few dollars by participating in some promotional scheme which was running during that time. But honestly, it wasn't worth the risk as it took away my peace of mind. Thanks for your advice!

0
0
0.000
avatar

You got it man, that's the spirit, better a convinced holder than a sleepless trader ;)

0
0
0.000