Q&A from the Weekly Threefold Tech and Community Calls

Q&A from the Weekly Threefold Calls

Here are some Q&A made out of the two amazing Threefold calls of this week:


Table of Contents


Mastodon and Threefold


What is the easiest way to deploy a Mastodon Instance?

You can launch a Mastodon Instance within a few clicks on the Threefold Grid.

Follow the simple steps presented in the Threefold Manual

You can easily:

  • Fund your wallet with TFT
    • With TF Connect App (QR Code)
  • Create or write your credentials within your browser
    • Seed phrase
    • SSH key
  • Deploy the instance on the decentralized Threefold Grid

Note: if your wallet runs out of fund, you will get 14 days to refund the wallet. In the meantime the deployment will freeze.


What is an approximate cost of a Mastodon Instance development on a monthly basis?

As an example of a wallet containing 4588.01 TFT, the price you pay for a Mastodon Instance is around 9.036USD per month, this is based on this video and it is subjected to change as user can get up to 60% cloud pricing discount with Threefold’s automatic form of staking.


Grid Features


What is the current situation for GPU implementation on the Threefold Grid?

Some work has been done but this project is currently on hold.


What is the current status on the WOL feature?

The WOL feature has been revised. This project has transformed into the Farmer bot feature. The farmer bot is a piece of software that can run as a grid deployment and manages a farmers nodes.

More information on this will be shared as the project grows.


What are the new features for the Threefold Grid and the Threefold Playground that will go live in Q1 2023 and beyond?

There are many features coming to the Threefold Playground. Here are some of them:

  • New WebWG Networking Tool
    • Set of networking tools for use on the grid
      application offering a variety of functions to the users
  • On-Chain Support for Third-party Billing
    • On TFGrid v3.8.0, we are adding on-chain support for third-party billing’s contract creation. A contract will function as a simple client - server principle (i.e. a contract in between a “customer” of a service and one who “offers” the service)
  • TFConnect App - Backend Refactor
    • Some important backend changes have been implemented to improve the usability of TFConnect App, including:
      • Upgrading its JS framework from Vue2 to Vue3
      • adding Typescript and Tailwind, code refactoring
      • Full kubernetes test deploy stack, and others
  • Workload Pause Feature for Unfunded Deployment
    • When a deployment wallet runs out of fund, this feature will pause the workload, instead of deleting it.
  • New playground weblets
    • NixOS VM Support (Full VM and MicroVM) (in verification)
    • Freeflow Twin on TF Playground (in progress)
  • Improvements
    • TFConnect Auth for Discourse (done)
    • TFConnect Auth for Mastodon (done)
    • New in-app live support chat feature (in verification)
  • Features being discussed
    • Jitsi: Free Video Conferencing Software for Web & Mobile*
    • Wordpress solution
    • Polygon Node Solution ( Heimdall (Validator layer / nodes) + Bor (Sidechain Operator / light and full client )
      • until polygon bridge is complete
    • QVM
      • Quantum safe file system (QSFS) enabled virtual machine
  • TFGrid Monitoring Solution
    • Vector 3 and Node Exporter running on Zero-OS
  • ThreeFold’s Mastodon Deployer
  • Documentation Update
    • How to Become Solution Provider on top of the TFGrid

QSFS allows for part of the storage to go down and it can self repair, however it’s still attached to a single VM and a single point of failure. Can a QSFS instance be reattached to another VM to recover it?

QSFS is built from storage devices which are distributed and decentralized.

The storage engine is a software running on a VM that can run everywhere.
If the storage engine needs to run on a different VM the config needs to pushed to the new VM.
In short, yes Quantum safe file system (QSFS) can be recovered on a different VM. It is not automated yet on Zero-OS. A video tutorial will be shared soon.


The gateways are advertised as many-to-many. How can I have more than one gateway assigned to a deployment? Can more gateways be added after deployment?

As of now, gateways are a simple one-to-one HTTPS proxy, one subdomain that comes from a gateway node. A domain points to one IP address.

Currently in development, but gateways will be a simple reservation (name + hashed secret).

Connecting to gateways is done with a client tool (user needs to run this). More gateways can be added later (and client then connects to them). Webgw will be a layer 4 (TCP) proxy, so user process needs to do TLS termination. User will also need a domain name. Domain can be configured with multiple IP’s to support multiple gateways.
Implementation itself will be functionally different from V2 gateways, but high lvl idea applies.
This means name / domain reservation as they are now will become deprecated as we no longer support TLS termination on the gateway.


Gateways use Yggdrasil between the gateway and the node. Currently that network isn’t always optimal for intense traffic applications. Are there alternatives for linking a node and gateway that better support high traffic?

This was previously discussed as a possibility. With the limited performance of Yggdrasil now understood, it makes sense to pursue different avenues.

It should also be possible to use a (free) public IPv6 address with a gateway.

This still limits use to farms that have these addresses available, rather than being able to also gateway directly to “hidden” nodes

We will introduce webgw for this.


Threefold Token


What is the maximum token supply of the Threefold Token? What is the current token supply of the Threefold Token?

The maximum token supply of the Threefold Token (TFT) is 4 billion.
As of now, more than 880M Threefold tokens (TFT) have been farmed.

For more information, read this documentation.


Could it be possible to lock TFT value during deployment?

A discussion is ongoing if we should offer users to possibility to lock their TFT value during deployment.

As of now, when you deploy, you are charged based on the TFT market value and this can fluctuate during your deployment. This leads to unsteady deployment cost.
The proposition is to offer users the possibility to lock the value of their TFT during deployment.
They would then be able to know exactly how much the deployment would cost for a given period of time.

To follow the discussion and share your thoughts, read this forum post.


What is the current status on the new liquidity solution? What about bridges?

The primary focus is on finding a project that will fund the Tech organization and we are very close to have a number of regional internets contracted on the African continent. This will create TFT demand on the longer term.

The secondary focus is to get utilization on the TF grid. See the question related to service providers for more information.


What is the current status on the validator and staking solution? Is there anything coming soon?

We expect validators to arrive in the first half of the year 2023 (H1 of 2023).


What are the requirements and the process to be recognized as a sales channel?

For now, you should propose your idea on the Threefold Forum.

On the Forum, we can have public discussions on the proposed business model.
Then, the Threefold community will decide if the proposition should become a supported sales channel.

A more defined process should be discussed by the Threefold Community for the long term.
We invite everyone to share their thoughts on how this could be done.

Note: 50% of every utilized token for workload is reserved as a fund for sale channels and use cases.


How can I become a solution provider on top of the Threefold Grid?

To become a solution provider on top of the Threefold Grid, read this


Threefold FAQ Bot

Is there a way to search the FAQ more easily? What is the link for the Threefold FAQ Bot?

There is a Threefold FAQ Bot available on Telegram. You can ask the bot any questions on Threefold, and it will find the most related Q&A in the Threefold FAQ.

The link to the Threefold FAQ Bot is the following: https://t.me/TF_FAQ_Bot.


Threefold Commercial Grid Services


What is the concept and the goals of the Threefold Commercial Grid Services project?

The goal of the Threefold Commercial Grid services project is to prove that the current state of the Threefold Grid is enough to start a commercial business.

The current TF technology stack is a good set of building blocks to create a service business on. While proving this by doing it we also create content that explains in steps how to use the technical building blocks and put it all together into a full fledged solution.

The benefits and purposes of this project are manyfold:

  • Showcase that the grid stability and functionality is good enough to do this
    • Ex: Zonaris trailblazing this independently
  • Allow anyone to build easily
    • Using created documentation and training material
  • Inspire the existing community
  • Start experimenting with the Grid functionality.
  • Attract non technical users who pay FIAT.
  • Use FIAT to fund and reward Community contribution
    • Documentation updates, weblet improvements, outreach, teaching, etc.

Who can participate to the Threefold Commercial Grid Services?

This is meant for any internet user, from the basic user to the advanced developer.
The services foreseen have non development and IT professionals use cases.

  • Standard use cases
    • Project management
    • Content management systems
    • Social networks
    • Video conferencing
    • More
  • Developer use cases
    • Full VM’s
    • Micro VM’s
    • Kubernetes
    • Caprover
    • More

What is the method of payment of the Threefold Commercial Grid Services?

Onboarding is meant through FIAT. It is comparable to any other online service provider experience.


How can I contribute to the Threefold Commercial Grid Services? What is the onboarding process to join the Threefold Commercial Grid Services?

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