Google desires to become a key Web3 infrastructure supplier.
Thursday, Google announced the development of a cloud-based node engine service for Ethereum developers and projects.
Google’s product, officially dubbed Blockchain Node Engine, is a “fully managed service,” meaning companies will not need to recruit their own teams to maintain or monitor their nodes. Google says it “actively monitors the nodes and restarts them if anything goes wrong.”
The Blockchain Node Engine also contains several security features, such as Google’s Cloud Armor, which is designed to counter DDoS attacks that spam and slow down networks.
According to Google, its nodes will also live behind a VPC firewall, allowing users to choose the permissions they require. Customers can also specify the geographic deployment of their nodes.
Nodes, which are containers that execute code for crypto networks, are a fundamental Web3 building piece and are required for the proper operation of networks like Ethereum. The greater the number of nodes within a network, the more decentralized, scalable, and secure it can be.
Google is well aware of the fact that it already operates on a worldwide scale and aspires to be a major participant in the Web3 infrastructure market. By providing such cloud-based services, Google’s Head of Web3 Strategy, Richard Widmann, recently told at the Mainnet conference that he is attempting to create a gigantic bridge between the traditional IT business and Web3.
When asked if the Node Engine could help reduce network disruptions, Google’s Director of Cloud Web3, James Tromans, responded via email that outages occur “for a number of reasons.”
“In those situations where the underlying infrastructure is at fault, then the more providers offering high quality node infrastructure like that of Google Cloud, the more redundancy we have in place and the less likely end users will see disruption,” Tromans said.
Boosting the number of network nodes can also enhance the network’s overall security. Thousands of nodes throughout the world can serve as backups in the event that any nodes experience technical difficulties or are otherwise disabled.
At launch, Google will only support Ethereum nodes, but it plans to expand its Node Engine service to accommodate additional networks.
“We recognize that other chains are gaining momentum, some of which we also plan on supporting in the future,” Tromans said.
Those familiar with Google’s attitude on crypto and Web3 will not be surprised by this Node Engine development. Google announced earlier this year that it has assembled a crew dedicated to digital assets and cloud-based Web3 services.
In January, Google referred to blockchain technology as a “tremendous innovation” and announced plans to develop node validators as a service and data hosting facilities for the blockchain histories of cryptocurrencies like as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Polygon, among others.
Despite the debut of Google’s Node Engine is a significant step for Web3 infrastructure, it may pose some centralization issues. Widmann is aware of this possibility and opposes Google taking control of Web3.
“If everything is running on Google, I will be the first to say that is a problem, frankly,” Widmann said.
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