10 Important Features of Azure Blockchain Workbench

What is the Azure Blockchain Workbench?

It is a set of Azure features and services intended to make it easier for users to develop and implement blockchain application services. The use of many Azure cloud services and tools helps automate routine development chores and facilitate the creation of blockchain applications. Also, it offers a framework for designing blockchain applications, allowing programmers to concentrate on developing smart contracts and business logic.

Purpose of Azure Blockchain Workbench

It was developed to make it easier to design blockchain applications and provide businesses access to the security that is provided by cryptographically unchangeable ledgers. This tool hides the technical aspects of creating, deploying, and maintaining blockchain apps.

10 Important Features of Azure Blockchain Workbench

1. Utilizing Azure Active Directory for identity generation: In blockchain systems, user identities are represented via addresses, which are often multi-character codes. It gets challenging to determine which address belongs to whom when there are hundreds of users. By connecting blockchain network addresses to an Azure Active Directory account, the complexity is eliminated in Azure Blockchain Workbench. This implies that instead of using a long hash string, corporate apps use user-friendly IDs. Any device linked to a smart contract also joins Azure AD.
2. Automation of web and mobile applications: It automates development of web applications, iOS and Android mobile apps. These blockchain-based apps may be tested and seen using these programs. The smart contract information shapes the user interface of these automatically created apps, which is adaptable enough to support all use cases. Once access is granted, app users enter a personalized UI after being authenticated using Azure AD. Depending on the business situation, this interface is produced dynamically. Certain transactions are also made available to the user if the situation allows.
3. Improved Monitoring: It has a feature called a DLT watcher that monitors trends and activity on the system’s connected blockchain. It will immediately cease processing them and concentrate on the transactions that are currently going through the blockchain process if there is a problem with the service. It is a dependable monitoring tool that warns users whenever there is a service interruption. Additionally, it can process and recover any transactions that were lost due to the loss.
4. Consortia Blockchain Network Setup is Simple: Creating this network using Workbench is simple. There is a solution template, which is essentially a prepackaged solution, in the Azure Resource Manager. The template establishes the network and deploys each element required to launch the consortium. Ethereum is the only blockchain technology that Azure presently supports.
5. Better Business Integration using REST-based APIs: Apps used by modern businesses must be connected with blockchain applications. It offers both REST APIs and message-based APIs to make integration simple. These APIs can communicate with various databases, distributed ledgers, and storage types (DLT). Messages are received and converted via the message-based API into a blockchain-compatible format so that they may be put into the ledger as transactions.
6. Blockchain as a Service for Ethereum: Ethereum has been added to Azure as a Verification Option. It is supported by Workbench as the standard blockchain technology. This enables programmers to quickly design a blockchain application that runs in the cloud.
7. Manage User Access Easily: This app will be used by many people, interact and can access information. The REST APIs of Blockchain Workbench may be used to manage users. According to the application’s business logic, admins can limit access and give users different responsibilities. A user’s Azure AD is immediately linked to this role once they are added to the app.
8. Attachment for an Azure SQL Database: An Azure SQL database is linked to Blockchain Workbench and has an off-chain replica of all the information kept in the blockchain. The database also stores setup options, definitions of smart contracts, and other information. There is no need to deal with blockchain-based queries because this off-chain database can be searched using conventional SQL. It is used by developers and users for analytics, reporting, visualization, and other data-driven tasks.
9. App Insights and Information Logging: This is a logging tool for Workbench that keeps track of all blockchain applications. It helps to verify and diagnose performance problems. It also makes debugging easier.
10. Apps can be enabled or disabled: The most recent version lets you adjust an app’s inability and filters the list of apps to identify enabled or disabled apps.

These are the top 10 important features of Azure Blockchain Workbench.