TF Product Updates: December 2022 (TFGrid v3.8.0 Updates)

:wave: Hi ThreeFold Community!

My name is Sasha from ThreeFold’s Product Management, and I would like to give my last monthly product update of the year - ThreeFold Product Update December 2022. Let’s take a close look on what the development team has accomplished, and what we are still working on to complete so far.

Please keep in mind that this is a product highlight. The content of this post will highlight some of the most awaited features and component improvements of TFGrid v3.8.0 and by all means, won’t cover all updates that are going to take place within the version.

Finalizing TFGrid v3.8.0

The team is currently working on finalizing the TFGrid v3.8.0. Some priority changes have happened in between November - December 2022, therefore I would like to give you the latest update on the changes and the actual features those will eventually be released on this version. It is expected that the TFGrid v3.8.0 will be released on testnet within 1-2 weeks from now, depending on our QA test results that is happening consistently these days.

Feature Highlights

Here are some of the most exciting features of TFGrid v3.8.0. Some of these features have been highlighted on my November Update, but there are also several changes that I haven’t announced yet as described below.

TFGrid Monitoring Solution Pt. I

We have come up with TFGrid Monitoring Solution Pt. 1 that compile of three things: Vector and Node Exporter running on ZOS, an active VM running Prometheus with remote write available thus enabling vector to push data into the node, as well as https://metrics.grid.tf/ : a Grafana instance set up with a slimmed down node exporter dashboard to visualize the available data.

Typescript Client Update for TFGrid v3.8.0

The Typescript client library are scripts that allows FusionAuth integration with JavaScript application. We have updated all scripts to fit the new interface of Grid Client TS for TFGrid v3.8.0, including but not limited to ones for capacity planning, capacity and deployment contracts, and others.

Documentation Update: How to Become Solution Provider on top of the TFGrid

We have added an intensive manual on how to become a solution provider on top of the TFGrid. A “solution” is something running on the grid, created by a community member. This can be brought forward to the council, who can vote on it to recognize it as a solution. Click here to see the solution provider manual (chain-side), and as well as the contract module example (from the solution’s side).

TF Dashboard Upgrade for TFGrid v3.8.0

The upgrade of TFDashboard for this grid version includes node explorer TF Portal improvements.

TF Playground Improvements for TFGrid v3.8.0

For TF Playground, numerous weblet’s enhancements and new features have been planned and are being implemented for TFGrid v3.8.0. All weblets from Full VM, to peertube, algorand, and casperlabs, they are being updated to TFGrid v3.8.0 version.

We are also adding a page for node rental feature within the playground. Currently we are also working on a solution to make it possible for the community to deploy multiple VMs inside the same wireguard network via TF Playground.

ThreeFold’s Mastodon Deployer

In the past few weeks, we have been extensively documenting our journey to make it possible for community members to deploy their own Mastodon on TFGrid. Click here to see my previous post to read more on what this is all about, or click here to deep dive directly into the manual on how you can deploy your own Mastodon on the TFGrid just within a few clicks!

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).

Once a contract is accepted by both the customer and the service, the chain can start accepting “bill reports” from the service for the contract automatically. When the bill is received, the chain calculates the contract fee, and this amount is transferred from the consumer’s twin account to the service’s twin account. People can begin receiving payments for services they build on the grid.

What’s Next?

It’s the end of the year but our team are still working relentlessly during this holiday time, because not only that we have been finalizing our TFGrid v3.8.0 upgrades, we have also been in parallel, planning and implementing TFGrid v3.8.1 upgrades and improvements that will come in January.

Some important new features and improvements like capacity planning and power management solution, Freeflow solution deployment as a weblet on TF Playground, deployment improvement on TFGrid by using Ansible and Docker… and many more. TFGrid v3.8.1 will include many essential solutions and improvements requested by our community.

Stay tuned on the ThreeFold forum for our January 2023 product update.

Join Our Community Telegram Channel

We’d like to also invite you to join our TFGrid Tester Community telegram channel 3 to meet other community members, test our products, receive new product updates and announcements, and start some conversations on our new improvements, and many more.

Last but not least, happy holiday and happy new year! :partying_face: :partying_face: :partying_face:
We wish you a great and exciting year ahead!

Love and Gratitude,

Sasha Astiadi

ThreeFold Product Management

6 Likes

Am I understanding it correct that 3.8.1 will allow deployments via ansible in addition to terraform?

I don’t think thats already agreed upon, would you like it though?

Honestly, terraform seems to be fine for now.

update on Tfgrid 3.8 engineering status and WOL

Is it possible to see ssd speeds? I can’t find it in metrics.grid.tf