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What is Sentinel? (Masternodes)

purplegreenred

New member
In the upgrade to 12.1 masternode admins have had to add sentinel to their servers.

Could someone tell me, in layman's terms, what sentinel is and what it does?

Thanks,
Scott
 
I've read that and all I gather is that what used to be in the dashd is now a separate thingy bound to dashd.

Still no idea how or why this was done, how it's helpful/better, or how MNs are being protected, or not...
 
I've read that and all I gather is that what used to be in the dashd is now a separate thingy bound to dashd.

Still no idea how or why this was done, how it's helpful/better, or how MNs are being protected, or not...

You said exactly what I also said, one message before.

Beware because the well known gang ( @aleix @Macrochip @tungfa @ceti ) may dumb or troll rate your message too.
Better say that everything is perfectly explained in sentinel, so that the well known gang will bomb you with like rates.

What can I say about this gang of advertisers and marketeers? Disgust..
 
I've read that and all I gather is that what used to be in the dashd is now a separate thingy bound to dashd.

Still no idea how or why this was done, how it's helpful/better, or how MNs are being protected, or not...

Those are your own very specific additional questions. OP had just two very simple questions :

Could someone tell me, in layman's terms, what sentinel is and what it does?
which is addressed in the link that tungfa provided : https://dashpay.atlassian.net/wiki/display/DOC/Sentinel

Sentinel is an autonomous agent for persisting, processing and automating Dash V12.1 governance objects and tasks, and for expanded functions in the upcoming Dash V13 release (Evolution).

Sentinel is implemented as a Python application that binds to a local version 12.1 dashd instance on each Dash V12.1 Masternode.

I dont mind us going into your questions more deeply, but that will mean that we divert from OP's original question(s).
 
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I'm just making it known that most MNOs have absolutely no idea what they just installed, why they installed it, or what it does... And this time, not because they're stupid, but because the information available is so vague that it has no meaning.
Could someone tell me, in layman's terms, what sentinel is and what it does?
Followed by
neckbeard said:
Sentinel is an autonomous agent for persisting, processing and automating Dash V12.1 governance objects and tasks, and for expanded functions in the upcoming Dash V13 release (Evolution).
This means nothing to anyone except the person who wrote it. It definitely didn't contain any layman's terms.

You can read that whole thing and still not know anything more than when you started.

So, I asked some more specific questions because you seem to have missed the point...
Those are your own very specific additional questions. OP had just two very simple questions :
I don't mind us going into your questions more deeply, but that will mean that we divert from OP's original question(s).
Since it covers the same general yarn of "WTF just happened?" why not do both?

Related post is related...

I'm just re-iterating the OP's request in another way.

Can you explain Sentinel in a way that doesn't require the listener to already know everything and have no reason to have asked in the first place?

Since there seems to be a chronic inability to "talk normal" I figured I'd guide the process with some questions instead of just leave the thread dead and useless...

It looks like the DGBB has been "popped out" of the dashd and now exists as a separate entity called every 5 minutes. So, in not nerd speak, why? Why do this? What has been gained? Why was this needed? What problem did it solve? How does this help? Why is it better this way? It seems to have done nothing more or different than the way it was 10 months ago... So, since we can't see a difference, please tell us. Is there anything new MNOs need to know regarding Server Security and PoSe score? Since this is a revamp of the governance, how do we vote now?
 
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Thank for the replies. I think you have hit the nail on the head, camosoul :D
Since there seems to be a chronic inability to "talk normal"

Anyway, I have had a look at the linked document from tungfa and it doesn't really tell me why.

Nothing new seems to have been added, so why is sentinel needed?

"Sentinel is an autonomous agent for persisting, processing and automating" were things not persistent, processed or automated before?

One more question, if it is important why is it only called once every 5 minutes?
 
Thank for the replies. I think you have hit the nail on the head, camosoul :D


Anyway, I have had a look at the linked document from tungfa and it doesn't really tell me why.

Nothing new seems to have been added, so why is sentinel needed?

"Sentinel is an autonomous agent for persisting, processing and automating" were things not persistent, processed or automated before?

One more question, if it is important why is it only called once every 5 minutes?


The problem my friend is not sentinel. The problem is the quality of the community, the quality of those who consist the votes of Dash.

Have a look at them.
https://www.dash.org/forum/posts/113571/ratings

The same people who irrationaly dumb rated my logical quote, the same way they voted for sentinel! No wonder why sentinel is a mess. The way they rate my quotes, the same way they vote into the budget system in favor of sentinel or in favor of any other bullshit.

The Dash community was initially occupied by a gang of irrationals, whose behavior discourages the smart and logical people to participate here and help Dash improve.
 
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The problem my friend is not sentinel. The problem is the quality of the community, the quality of those who consist the votes of Dash.

Have a look at them.
https://www.dash.org/forum/posts/113571/ratings

The same people who irrationaly dumb rated my logical quote, the same way they voted for sentinel! No wonder why sentinel is a mess. The way they rate my quotes, the same way they vote into the budget system in favor of sentinel or in favor of any other bullshit.

The Dash community was initially occupied by a gang of irrationals, whose behavior discourages the smart and logical people to participate here and help Dash improve.

You seem well placed in the community you describe. No answer to the question asked, no constructive comments of any kind.

If this thread is dumb, it is so because of a lack of accessible documentation. Or maybe I have missed some important posts, in which case I would apologise for the spam/time wasting post.

I would be grateful if someone could shed more light on this issue or point me in the right direction
 
Thank for the replies. I think you have hit the nail on the head, camosoul :D

Anyway, I have had a look at the linked document from tungfa and it doesn't really tell me why.

One more question, if it is important why is it only called once every 5 minutes?
They just call it trolling and put you on ignore... How dare you not be a mind reader! TRIGGERED! That's just how very snowflake it is around here...
 
From a software engineering perspective it makes a lot of sense actually.

Evan said they wanted to clone the existing Governance Model through the new system. Sentinel is a result of that. If you want to expand an existing system it's a good approach to first modularize it into single components each of which are easier to work on individually.

So splitting this part from the daemon is only a first step towards the planned features we heard of in Evolution. It's classic divide and conquer.
 
From a software engineering perspective it makes a lot of sense actually.
in layman's terms, what sentinel is and what it does?
Let me say it like this:

Software Engineering Perspective != Layman's Terms
So splitting this part from the daemon is only a first step towards the planned features we heard of in Evolution. It's classic divide and conquer.
So.... It's a plywood toaster on wheels? Or was my guess accurate?
 
I did not reply to him. I replied to you, camo. You were the one that asked why it was ripped out of dashd. I think you have enough intellect to understand my explanation.

It looks like the DGBB has been "popped out" of the dashd and now exists as a separate entity called every 5 minutes. So, in not nerd speak, why? Why do this? What has been gained? Why was this needed? What problem did it solve? How does this help? Why is it better this way?

No "layman's terms" in there :p
 
From a software engineering perspective it makes a lot of sense actually.

Evan said they wanted to clone the existing Governance Model through the new system. Sentinel is a result of that. If you want to expand an existing system it's a good approach to first modularize it into single components each of which are easier to work on individually.

So splitting this part from the daemon is only a first step towards the planned features we heard of in Evolution. It's classic divide and conquer.

Thanks, that makes sense!
 
It's like pulling teeth to get a straight answer, followed be being told that whoever asked is a jerk for asking... Every. Single. Time.

If the goal is to be Grandma Friendly; what would your Grandma say about acting like that?
 
Ugh, this question is not being answered, and that link is mumbo jumbo to normal people.

Camosoul is jabbing at us, not you, just so you know, @purplegreenred :) He is being sarcastic :)

I'm gonna give this a try, but it will need correction, because like most, I don't know exactly how any of this works :p

The wallet is a type of node, it connects to other wallets/nodes. Sentinel is another kind of node, and it kind of runs through or connects through the wallet node. It processes information and stores it in a database. It's a more sophisticated program than the budgeting system we had before. It can handle many variables and rules on how payments are made. But this is just the beginning. It will also process other information eventually, aside from the budgeting system. It may end up handling other databases, or the core team may choose to go back to mysql for a more complex database. By modularizing Dash, the main wallet can keep in synchronicity with Bitcoin, yet have completely new functionalities. Sentinel takes these functionalities that could create complications that mess everything up if directly applied to the core wallet, and runs them separately.

OK, so what is possible with Sentinel as it is now?

Imagine a contract that pays out in Dash, but in terms of US dollars. A quorum of MNs can quorie several exchanges, find out the going price just before payment superblock, and thus we don't over pay due to long term contracts, and at the same time, we can safely make long term contracts.

I believe Sentinel will also handle the future Evolution services such as name/password => account connections and the distributed sharded storage system.

So, it is the foundation, it handles all kinds of commands and can keep track of information. We just haven't created these sub programs to do other work yet.

I hope I got it right, and I hope smarter people will correct me where I've gone wrong. But mostly, I hope I helped you get the gist of what all this is about and why it's being done this way :)
 
Ugh, this question is not being answered, and that link is mumbo jumbo to normal people.

Camosoul is jabbing at us, not you, just so you know, @purplegreenred :) He is being sarcastic :)

I'm gonna give this a try, but it will need correction, because like most, I don't know exactly how any of this works :p

The wallet is a type of node, it connects to other wallets/nodes. Sentinel is another kind of node, and it kind of runs through or connects through the wallet node. It processes information and stores it in a database. It's a more sophisticated program than the budgeting system we had before. It can handle many variables and rules on how payments are made. But this is just the beginning. It will also process other information eventually, aside from the budgeting system. It may end up handling other databases, or the core team may choose to go back to mysql for a more complex database. By modularizing Dash, the main wallet can keep in synchronicity with Bitcoin, yet have completely new functionalities. Sentinel takes these functionalities that could create complications that mess everything up if directly applied to the core wallet, and runs them separately.

OK, so what is possible with Sentinel as it is now?

Imagine a contract that pays out in Dash, but in terms of US dollars. A quorum of MNs can quorie several exchanges, find out the going price just before payment superblock, and thus we don't over pay due to long term contracts, and at the same time, we can safely make long term contracts.

I believe Sentinel will also handle the future Evolution services such as name/password => account connections and the distributed sharded storage system.

So, it is the foundation, it handles all kinds of commands and can keep track of information. We just haven't created these sub programs to do other work yet.

I hope I got it right, and I hope smarter people will correct me where I've gone wrong. But mostly, I hope I helped you get the gist of what all this is about and why it's being done this way :)
Thank you, you get +1 internets for giving the most comprehensive answer.
I understand the need for a system that is separate, but works with, the core program now. Thanks!
 
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