Proof of Work vs Proof of Stake – Which Is Better? Blockchain technology relies on consensus mechanisms to validate transactions and keep networks secure. Among the most popular mechanisms are Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS). Both serve the same purpose—maintaining trust in decentralized systems—but they work in very different ways. So, which one is better? Let’s break it down. What Is Proof of Work (PoW)? Proof of Work is the original consensus mechanism introduced by Bitcoin. In PoW: * Miners compete to solve complex mathematical puzzles * The first to solve it validates the block * The winner earns block rewards and transaction fees Popular PoW Blockchains * Bitcoin (BTC) * Litecoin (LTC) * Dogecoin (DOGE) Advantages of Proof of Work ✅ Highly secure and battle-tested ✅ Extremely decentralized ✅ Resistant to network attacks Disadvantages of Proof of Work ❌ High energy consumption ❌ Requires expensive hardware ❌ Slower transaction speeds PoW is often criticized for its en...
Transforming I/O Requests to Hardware Operations
* Users appeal data using file names, which must ultimately be mapped to specific blocks of data from a specific device managed by a specific device driver.
* DOS uses the colon separator to specify a particular device ( e.g. C:, LPT:, etc. )
* UNIX uses a mount table to map filename append ( e.g. /usr ) to specific mounted devices. Where many entries in the mount table match different appends of the filename the one that matches the longest append is chosen. ( e.g. /usr/home instead of /usr where both subsits in the mount table and both match the required file. )
* UNIX uses special device files, usually located in /dev, to represent and process physical devices directly.
• Each device file has a major and minor number related with it, stored and
displayed where the file size could normally go.
• The high number is an index into a table of device drivers, and implies which
device driver handles this device. ( E.g. the disk drive handler. )
• The minor number is a parameter moved to the device driver, and implies which
particular device is to be processed, out of the many which may be handled by a
particular device driver. ( e.g. a specific disk drive or partition. )
* A series of lookup tables and mappings makes the access of different devices adaptable, and somewhat transparent to users.
* Figure explains the steps taken to process a ( blocking ) read request:
