Hey Fluxers! If you missed last week’s AMA (possibly the most important in the history of Flux), don’t worry, because we are here to break down all of the major announcements in depth. Let’s dive in!
PoUW v2: Flux Got Forked
First, Flux underwent a soft fork that fundamentally altered network operations. The fork shifted Flux completely from inefficient GPU mining to the node-centric Proof of Useful Work (PouW) v2 consensus mechanism, where FluxNodes now manage block production and transaction validation.
The fork slashed block production times from 2 minutes to 30 seconds, ensuring faster finality and more frequent and predictable payout cycles for node operators. As each FluxNode tier now receives a full distribution of emissions for every block produced, guaranteed reward payout cycles occur every 30 seconds.
Furthermore, the fork introduced a new maximum supply cap of 560 million FLUX with a 10% annual reduction rate. This fork would not have been possible without the Flux visionary dev team, particularly Tadeas and Jeremy, who orchestrated the shift to PouW v2 and came together on the AMA to celebrate the achievement live with the community; an unforgettable moment for Flux.
FluxCloud UI: New look & new feel
Next on the AMA, Valter, InFlux Technologies’ Chief Information Officer, and his dedicated team came together to announce the release of a brand-new FluxCloud UI; home.runonflux.com and cloud.runonflux.com have been merged into a single, unified interface.
This new UI introduces bug fixes and makes it easier for users to launch deployments, customize settings, including the geolocation feature, and make payments with fewer points of friction. Node operators and app developers now have a more cohesive UI from which they can interact with FluxCloud.
GeoDSN-Based CDN: Automatic Container Distribution
We have a new Content Delivery Network (CDN) that utilizes GeoDNS routing to automatically direct queries to servers closest to the user’s geographic location. This CDN is compatible with the Open Container Initiative (OCI), allowing users to host container registries from anywhere, not just Docker Hub. With this release, latency is reduced and data residency becomes decentralized.
Postgres and MongoDB: Distributing Databases
Users can now run Postgres and MongoDB as clusters on Flux, allowing app databases to be stored across multiple nodes instead of on a single, isolated server. These integrations enable high availability for network states, app statistics, and node uptimes/performance, as clustering enables automatic failover; if one node goes down, the database remains online due to the other nodes where it’s stored.
New Node Management System: Mobile Monitoring
Flux has redesigned its node management system, which now allows users to access a single website and view the statuses of all nodes they own. The new system can also be configured to allow users who do not own any nodes but manage them for others as Node Management Providers to track their statuses and uptimes.
The new management system also allows users to assign different notification settings to various groups of nodes. For example, notifications can be divided by node tier if you’re a management provider and allocated to specific email addresses for outreach.
Additionally, the new management system allows for the creation of daily reports on node activity and performance, which can be scheduled for specific times and time zones.
Delegation Feature
A significant new feature of the enhanced node management system is “Delegation,” which allows users to initiate a node and assign up to four public keys as collateral that have permission to restart the node if it ever disconnects from the network or becomes unavailable.
The goal of the delegation feature was to eliminate the need to access the node’s private key as collateral. This means that once delegation is set up, node operators never have to sign in or decrypt keys to monitor or manage node operations, resulting in reduced exposure of private keys.
Additionally, the delegation feature enables node management providers to remotely upgrade nodes using a delegate key without having to notify the node owners of the restart or use their collateral private keys.
Furthermore, delegate keys can be imported, allowing nodes to be run from a manager app without requiring operators to log in from a cryptocurrency wallet. Another feature of the new node management system will be automatic node retooling in the event of an outage.
For those wondering, Zelcore and SSP wallets will support the new node management system. Overall, this system update enables more flexible and mobile node monitoring, allowing users to check node status and performance without being tied to a desktop or having to go through a lengthy sign-in/decryption process.
Flux Deployment Academy
Up next during the AMA, we unveiled the Flux Deployment Academy: an educational hub that provides users with everything they need to launch deployments on Flux, featuring deployment guides and in-depth, step-by-step tutorials.
The academy outlines the prerequisites needed for launching applications, details the network architecture, provides cost breakdowns/estimations, and offers container information, giving Fluxers all the information they need on deployments in one place.
New Flux Block Explorer & Indexer
Lastly, we announced a brand-new Flux Block Explorer with a completely different interface, overhauled and optimized for increased intuitiveness. Additionally, we have a new Flux Indexer, built entirely from scratch, which will run alongside the explorer and internally output API calls directly to the explorer, eliminating the need for any third-party indexing software, such as Blockbook.
Conclusion
The announcements made in last week’s AMA mark a turning point for Flux. PoUW v2 introduces node-centric consensus, shorter block production times, and more frequent payout cycles, offering higher rewards for FluxNode operators.
A new, unified FluxCloud UI, GeoDSN-routed CDN, and integrations for Postgres and MongoDB clustering make the ecosystem a production-ready and battle-tested sandbox for builders.
A new node management system, featuring an innovative delegation feature, enables more secure sign-in processes and private key practices, allowing for easy and fluid node monitoring on the go. This results in a simpler and more secure operating infrastructure.
Additionally, a brand-new Flux Block Explorer, paired with a ground-up Indexer, allows for transparent tracking of Flux network activity. Finally, users can deploy with confidence thanks to the new Flux Deployment Academy, which provides a clear path for everyone to launch apps with ease.
These critical updates to the Flux blockchain will propel the ecosystem into a future defined by decentralized, user-powered systems. Stay tuned for more. The future runs on Flux.