Synthesis Lectures on Data Management

This book offers a thorough overview of permissioned blockchain systems, emphasizing how they can tackle key challenges in large-scale transaction management systems. Modern transaction systems operate in untrustworthy environments where numerous distrustful entities interact while maintaining data on untrusted infrastructure. By relying on Byzantine fault-tolerant protocols, permissioned blockchain systems have enabled a large class of distributed applications. The presentation focuses on four critical requirements: performance, scalability, confidentiality, and verifiability, which are crucial for effective blockchain operations. Throughout the book, various techniques are explored to address these requirements. The goal is to enhance understanding of the fundamental issues in transaction processing and present techniques that facilitate efficient large-scale transaction management system development in untrusted environments. The practicality of these techniques is highlighted through real-world applications.