Research Internship (Blockchain Storage)

What we're looking for

Blockchains are an excellent solution for storing data; however, the main limitation is performance when storing and querying the blockchain state in persistent storage (database). The blockchain node stores the data (state) in specific data structures in the database. The most commonly used databases by popular blockchains are RocksDB, LevelDB, LMDB, or the flavor of these DBs. The most commonly used data structures to store states are Ethereum Merkle trees, Consensys Bonsai trees, Erigon approach, Verkle trees, Avax Firewood, etc.

The person in this role would be required to study data structures for storing the MoveVM-based blockchain’s current and archival state on the database. So the objective is to study data structures and the underlying storage layer, experimenting and benchmarking existing implementations such as Ethereum Merkle trees, Consensys bonsai trees, the Erigon approach, replacing Merkle trees with Verkle trees, other data structure-level innovations, and faster and more efficient access from the storage layer. Essentially, these tasks involve understanding the existing codebase, testing the existing codebase via mocks and drivers, integrating and testing the best-performing data structure and database with Supra Codebase, and even refactoring parts of the code when necessary.

Are you the right person for this role?

The ideal candidate for us has:

Essential:

• Very good command over Rust programming.
• Knowledge and experience with Rust testing tools and testing methodologies.
• Very good with debugging. Desirable:
• Async programming/ tokio runtime in Rust
• Familiarity with Key Store DB technologies like RocksDB
• Knowledge of Ethereum and other popular blockchains
• Familiarity with data structures amenable for parallel execution Duration: >= 6 months based on mutual agreement