Immutable Log Storage as a Service on Private and Public Blockchains

TL;DR

This paper introduces Logchain, a blockchain-based log storage system that ensures tamper-resistance and scalability for cloud logs, suitable for private and public blockchains without altering their core architecture.

Contribution

The paper presents Logchain, a novel hierarchical blockchain log storage solution that enhances scalability and integrates with existing blockchain platforms like Ethereum and IBM Blockchain.

Findings

Logchain provides tamper-resistant log storage on blockchains.

The hierarchical structure improves scalability without changing blockchain architecture.

Cost analysis guides implementation choices.

Abstract

Service Level Agreements (SLA) are employed to ensure the performance of Cloud solutions. When a component fails, the importance of logs increases significantly. All departments may turn to logs to determine the cause of the issue and find the party at fault. The party at fault may be motivated to tamper with the logs to hide their role. We argue that the critical nature of Cloud logs calls for immutability and verification mechanism without the presence of a single trusted party. This paper proposes such a mechanism by describing a blockchain-based log storage system, called Logchain, which can be integrated with existing private and public blockchain solutions. Logchain uses the immutability feature of blockchain to provide a tamper-resistance platform for log storage. Additionally, we propose a hierarchical structure to address blockchains' scalability issues. To validate the mechanism, we integrate Logchain into Ethereum and IBM Blockchain. We show that the solution is scalable and perform the analysis of the cost of ownership to help a reader select an implementation that would address their needs. The Logchain's scalability improvement on a blockchain is achieved without any alteration of blockchains' fundamental architecture. As shown in this work, it can function on private and public blockchains and, therefore, can be a suitable alternative for organizations that need a secure, immutable log storage platform.