Inspiration
We are very inspired by the new paradigms and possibilities of decentralization and Web3; and we think the Internet Computer realizes those virtues uniquely. Likewise, we are inspired by the collective energy and creativity in this developer community. As lifelong hands-on engineers who also build and lead teams, we’ve never shied away from building our own tools as needs arose. And those dots are all connected, in that the IC ecosystem really needs more and better developer tooling in order to reach its full potential. We’re not alone in thinking that, and ICPipeline embodies our intention to do something about it. We really like this community, we enjoy being part of it, and we hope our tools will add value to the mix. If ICPipeline can help to grow the community, while improving the odds of success for some of its members, that will be very inspiring to us.
What it does
Every Replicator is a dedicated, secure replica environment. It automatically clones, builds and deploys any IC project that is given to it. Users retain full control via frictionless, secured all-points access – to the frontend web server; to the IC proxy border gateway; and administrative shell access – all via one-click access in a browser. It is very easy to create a Replicator – just paste in the link to any IC project GitHub repo and hit “Go”. Within moments a new Replicator is up and hosting its project, complete with shareable links. Replicator removes the friction from testing/QA, product team access, or any kind of sharing of IC projects, before deployment on the mainnet blockchain. We think Replicators will be a great entry point for devs and teams who may not be quite ready for full migration to the ICPipeline framework.
All IC developers are welcome at ICPipeline.com, where each new signup receives a complimentary credit enabling them to try out a Replicator at no charge. Users can purchase additional credits with ICP using their Plug Wallets.
How we built it
The platform’s hub lives all on-chain, running as an IC canister d’app built in Motoko with a React/MUI frontend. It leverages the same foundation in use by our ICPipeline Manager d’app, which is currently available to the community as part of our ICPipeline framework. This particular implementation is extended to support transaction processing, CRM and other specifics of this application.
Individual Replicators are dedicated virtual Internet Computer replicas. Unlike our open-source framework, which leverages Dockers as worker nodes, Replicators are full dedicated VMs. We maintain a proprietary system image, from which individual nodes are spawned. End-user workflows for creating and managing Replicators are hosted at ICPipeline.com. The backbone of our off-chain replica development is NodeJS. The infrastructure-as-code layer is largely home-rolled, avoiding “cloud-proprietary” within reason, in aid of maximum portability. “Go-anywhere” architecture is a core value for us. To this end, we think Web3 tech should leverage every available foothold and leg-up that the Web2 space can offer. We should mix, match and hybridize, as we learned from the mainstreaming of cloud tech a decade ago. “Building bridges, not walls” will be crucial to the IC and Web3, and this will only become more true as broader adoption expands the overall reach. Because the path to blockchain singularity will lead through leaders and decision makers working outside the typically-blockchain verticals, and only the IC is really equipped to be in the vanguard.
Challenges we ran into
Mostly, we’d like to have had more time to work with, but that is a feeling we are accustomed to. We did not encounter any hard-stop challenges, on a level that would have induced second thoughts or major architectural refactoring. Certain difficulties arose relating to the fact that all communications originate externally to the IC, via polling mechanisms. But these were surmountable.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We have been awarded two Dfinity developer grants, and we’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished to date. Likewise, we take pride in our core focus, which is on the proverbial nuts and bolts – i.e. tools with which our fellow builders can build their successes. If our platforms can help to grow this community, and contribute to some of its success stories, we will be very proud indeed. We have a long history of building and running web teams, and doing the things that help them thrive. We draw directly on that experience in designing, building and delivering tools for the IC ecosystem.
What we learned
We became aware of the Internet Computer approximately eighteen months ago, by way of our due diligence in the blockchain/Web3 space. Now, with a firm grasp on Web3 tech in general, we are positioned to leverage our deep experience at executing technology transformations. We know how to build high-performing teams, we recognize the diversity and scale of the opportunities in this space, and we’re excited about the future.
What's next for the ICPipeline Replicator
We expect the Replicator to become an integral component of the ICPipeline framework. Replicator is particularly well-suited as a “gateway” for developers and small teams who may be relatively new to the IC and Web3 in general. We expect that many such early-stage builders will eventually adopt our E2E framework, running it on their own infrastructure, given the opportunity to grow into it.
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