2023-11-16 - Istanbul Turkey

The Lilypad Network proudly announced the launch of its new calibration test net - dubbed the Baklava Testnet, today at DevConnect, the largest gathering of web3 developers in the world. With just one command, anyone with a computer can join the test network, and be registered as an early contributor for upcoming releases. To get started, go to lilypad.tech/install for instructions.

As distributed applications and datasets continue to grow in size and complexity, the limitations of today's centralized cloud infrastructure are becoming readily apparent. Organizations struggle with high costs, vendor lock-in, data sovereignty issues and the inability to distribute workloads close to where data physically resides. This causes performance problems, increased bandwidth costs and difficulties meeting regulatory requirements around data residency. At the same time, developers lack ubiquitous tools for building and deploying applications that can seamlessly tap into dispersed compute and data resources worldwide. There is a clear need for a new computing paradigm that addresses these challenges.

The Lilypad Network solves this problem by introducing a distributed, permissionless compute over data model where applications are run directly over decentralized data sources using transparent serverless execution. Its blockchain protocol incentivizes the contribution and processing power from around the globe. This pooled infrastructure can then be tapped into by developers through an open and interoperable platform. Workloads are automatically distributed, scheduled and run near relevant data locations. Lilypad aims to deliver lower costs, higher performance, data ownership benefits and new capabilities for building massively interconnected systems that weren't previously possible.

As the first step towards realizing this vision, Lilypad is proud to announce the launch of a Calibration Net testing environment. This network deployment will allow developers and infrastructure providers to begin integrating their machines and experimenting with running workloads directly over decentralized models and datasets.

The Calibration Net aims to stress test core network functions like job scheduling, compute resource allocation and data routing. It will operate at a smaller scale compared to future mainnets, but valuable lessons about scalability, resilience and cross-region performance can be gleaned. Compute providers who contribute machines will be playing a pivotal role in shaping Lilypad's future capabilities. In recognition of their contributions, these contributions will be tracked and become eligible for rewards as the network matures.

The new testnet deployment features key technical upgrades like support for rich ML workloads and GPU-accelerated workloads. It also introduces a revamped smart contract interface, making it simpler than ever for developers to deploy and run distributed applications directly on the network.

"We're thrilled to unveil this testnet and enable compute providers from around the world to begin contributing their resources directly to the Lilypad Network," said Ally Haire, CEO of the Lilypad Network. "This is a major step towards realizing our vision of an open, decentralized internet-scale infrastructure for all types of computing workloads."

All skill levels are invited to participate - from seasoned devOps engineers to students just learning about distributed systems. Lilypad’s CLI and SDKs aim to minimize barriers to contributing resources. Performance stats, uptime records and other metrics will be collected during this test period. Valuable feedback will also be solicited to iteratively improve the platform.

Over the coming months, Lilypad aims to grow the Calibration Net into a vibrant testing ground that drives technical progress and rewards all aspects of the marketplace. With support from the decentralized development community, the project’s goal of powering data-intensive applications at a global scale is another step closer to reality.

With the successful testnet launch, Lilypad is one step closer to delivering an open, serverless computing fabric that empowers organizations of all types and sizes. The project aims to support mass adoption of decentralized technologies by minimizing the barriers to entry for contribution of compute worldwide.

Sign up now at bit.ly/join-lilypad-calib-net