*These are questions related to how the NuCypher network works.*
The answers in the FAQ regularly reference the network characters "**Alice**," "**Bob**," "**Ursula**," and "**Enrico**." For a more in-depth introduction to each character, head over to `Character Concepts <https://nucypher.readthedocs.io/en/latest/architecture/character.html/>`
The answers in the FAQ regularly reference the network characters "**Alice**," "**Bob**," "**Ursula**," and "**Enrico**." For a more in-depth introduction to each character, head over to :ref:`character-concepts`.
**Alice** is the *data owner*. She wants to share some data with **Bob**, *the data recipient*.
@ -15,20 +10,52 @@ The answers in the FAQ regularly reference the network characters "**Alice**," "
**Ursula** serves as the "*proxy*" in this proxy re-encryption scheme and *re-encrypts the ciphertext encrypted under Alice's key to a ciphertext that will be decryptable under Bob's key*.
General
-------
Q: What is the network name for Incentivized Testnet?
For an in-depth analysis of this topic, see our blog post entitled "`Three things that NuCypher's "Ursula" can do that vanilla public-key cryptography can't <https://blog.nucypher.com/why-use-nucyphers-ursula-instead-of-traditional-public-key-cryptography/>`_".
Q: How much trust do we place in Ursula, the proxy?
Ursulas are “semi-trusted” in the sense that Alice must trust Ursula to revoke a policy once it expires or if instructed to do so (by Alice). Alice and Bob also trust Ursula to be responsive and perform the re-encryption correctly so that Bob can access the data. Importantly, Ursulas are not trusted with access to any underlying plaintext.
Q: Who pays Ursula? How is it done?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Currently, Alice pays Ursulas via an ETH deposit to the PolicyManager contract at the point of granting access to Bob. Payment models are an area of active research for the NuCypher protocol, including the prospect of Bob independently paying for all or some component of the work performed by Ursula.
Alice provides an upfront deposit that covers the entirety of the sharing policy's duration, for all the Ursulas required to service the policy. Currently, Ursulas may choose a discretionary payment rate per period, which Alices discover on an Ursula-by-Ursula basis by querying public network contracts. In the early stages of the network, both Alice and Ursula must settle on a rate which falls within a fixed, universal range, enforced by the PolicyManager contract.
Q: How do we verify that Ursula has performed the re-encryption correctly?
The Staker can be thought of as a fiduciary administrator that holds NU and collects rewards.
Typically, but not always, Ursula and the Staker are the same party. Recall that Ursula is only “valid” (i.e. will be selected for work and able to earn inflation rewards) if she’s bonded to a Staker.
Ursula performs work on behalf of the Staker: recall that Ursula is only “valid” (i.e. will be selected for work and able to earn inflation rewards) if she’s bonded to a Staker.
Q: Does Alice or Bob need NU to use the network? Who pays Ursula? How is it done?
Neither Alice nor Bob need NU to use the network - Stakers require NU to run Ursulas on the network. However, Alice pays Ursulas for re-encryptions via an ETH deposit to the PolicyManager contract at the point of granting access to Bob. Payment models are an area of active research for the NuCypher protocol, including the prospect of Bob independently paying in ETH for all or some component of the work performed by Ursula.
Q: How much does Alice pay?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alice provides an upfront deposit that covers the entirety of the sharing policy's duration (in periods), for all the Ursulas required to service the policy. Currently, Ursulas may choose a discretionary payment rate per period, which Alice discovers on an Ursula-by-Ursula basis by querying public network contracts. In the early stages of the network, both Alice and Ursula must settle on a rate which falls within a fixed, universal range, enforced by the PolicyManager contract.
Q: What currency does Ursula stake in (assuming Ursula is also the Staker)?
Every Ursula that is “online” and “available” will receive a cut based on the size of their stake.
Every Ursula that is “online” and “available” will receive a cut based on the size of their stake proportional to the overall NU staked in the network and augmented by a time coefficient based on their remaining stake duration.
Q: How long is a period?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q: How/Where can I acquire NU tokens?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 period is 24 hours. Periods begin at midnight UTC.
Q: Where are Bob’s requests handled?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bob’s requests are handled off-chain.
Q: Why are Bob’s requests handled off-chain?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It allows for a very small/lightweight Bob.
Setup-Related Questions
-----------------------
*These are questions related to setting up the NuCypher network on your machine.*
NU tokens can be acquired via the "*WorkLock*" mechanism developed by NuCypher - more information is available in our `original blog post <https://blog.nucypher.com/the-worklock/>`_ and :ref:`worklock-guide`.
Q: What are the recommended specifications for running a nucypher node?
@ -115,10 +162,20 @@ require at least 4GB for RAM. Nodes also need 24/7 uptime and a static, public I
For ``nucypher`` specific requirements, see `System Requirements and Dependencies <https://docs.nucypher.com/en/latest/guides/installation_guide.html#system-requirements-and-dependencies/>`_.
Q: What is the network name for Incentivized Testnet?
Our guide is intended for Linux - we do not officially support Windows.
* Lock your stake for a year or more - stakes with tokens locked for a year or more will be afforded the maximum time coefficient for the calculation of inflation rewards - see `Ursula Generates Staking Rewards <https://docs.nucypher.com/en/latest/architecture/contracts.html#ursula-generates-staking-rewards>`_
* Enable :ref:`sub-stake-restaking` to relock inflation rewards and increase your stake size and consequently your proportion of future inflation rewards
* Disable :ref:`sub-stake-winddown` to maintain locked stake duration
Q: Where is my Ursula config path?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@ -158,7 +217,7 @@ This is **ONLY** a heuristic to ensure that your node is running correctly, it d
..code::
Starting Ursula on xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:9151
Connecting to cassandra
Connecting to gemini
Working ~ Keep Ursula Online!
#. Ensure that your node uses the correct IP address and can be accessed via port 9151 from an outside
@ -171,7 +230,7 @@ This is **ONLY** a heuristic to ensure that your node is running correctly, it d
nucypher status stakers
> --provider <your_geth_provider>
> --network cassandra
> --network gemini
> --staking-address <your_staker_address>
#. Ensure that your node is listed on the `Status Monitor Page <https://status.nucypher.network>`_ (this can take a few minutes).
@ -185,7 +244,7 @@ or `systemd <https://docs.nucypher.com/en/latest/guides/installation_guide.html#
Q: When installing on Docker, what do I input for <NETWORK NAME>?
K Prasch
GitHub