Performance And Scalability Comparison of Raft And SmartBFT Consensus Mechanisms In A Private Blockchain Network

Abstract

Blockchain’s promise of trust and immutability has positioned it as a transformative technology in high-integrity domains. However, as adoption increases, challenges related to performance and scalability become critical. This study presents the first empirical comparison of the Raft and SmartBFT consensus mechanisms within the Hyperledger Fabric framework. Key performance metrics, including latency, throughput, and CPU utilization, were evaluated. The results reveal a fundamental trade-off: while SmartBFT demonstrates higher resource consumption and limited scalability, Raft provides greater efficiency and scalability, albeit with increased latency. Interestingly, the study also identifies unexpected performance behaviors of SmartBFT under specific conditions. These findings highlight the importance of selecting consensus algorithms based on application-specific requirements. All results are validated through statistical analysis. Overall, this work offers valuable insights into the design and optimization of Hyperledger Fabric-based data-sharing applications.

DOI: 10.61416/ceai.v28i2.10067