Notary Application: PiKNiK - James Hoang

[jamerduhgamer]

Notary Application

To apply to be a Fil+ Notary, please review the Notary Overview here and then fill out the following form.

Core Information

• Name: James Hoang
• Affiliated organization: PiKNiK
• Website / Social Media:
• On-chain address to be notarized: f1ypuqpi4xn5q7zi5at3rmdltosozifhqmrt66vhq
• Region of Operation: North America
• Use case(s) to be supported: Professional Services, Web 3.0 / Decentralized Applications, Web 2.0 Applications, Scientific Data, Media & Entertainment
• DataCap Requested: 10 PiB

Please respond to the questions below in pargraph form, replacing the text saying "Please answer here". Include as much detail as you can in your answer!

Long Term Network Alignment

Time Commitment

Describe the nature and duration of your affiliation with the Filecoin project. Please include relevant Github handles, miner ids, significant projects or contributions (with links).

We have been in the Filecoin ecosystem even before mainnet launch. Our miner IDs are f066596 and f0678914. Having contributed to Bleeding Edge, MinerX, MinerX2, MinerX3 and now SPX, we are very deeply involved with improving the network and the ecosystem.
Starting in December 16th, 2021, we have participated in the Slingshot restore program as a SP to numerous Slingshot clients.

Stake Exposure

Please cite total token at stake (currently available, locked as collateral, vesting over time) and any substantiating evidence.

https://filfox.info/en/address/f066596
Address Balance - 46,864 FIL
Initial Pledge - 39,560 FIL
Locked Rewards - 4,593 FIL

https://filfox.info/en/address/f0678914
Address Balance - 5,404 FIL
Initial Pledge - 3,666 FIL
Locked Rewards - 775 FIL

Industry Reputation

In-protocol Reputation

Please describe (in detail) your activity and tenure as a member of the Filecoin community. Please note (with links where possible) any contributions made to implementations of Filecoin, the spec, documentation, or to substantially help the Filecoin ecosystem grow.

PiKNiK's CEO has contributed universally to the docs.filecoin.io GitBook including changes to the "Miner" nomenclature to "Storage Provider" as well as the reference architecture that included Intel. As a title sponsor, PiKNiK has also written significant documentation for ESPA (Enterprise Storage Provider Accelerator) about the different implementations and many other aspects of Filecoin in their learning management system. Furthermore, we supported the ecosystem's very first enterprise-tier storage customer, USC Shoah Foundation, to store across multiple independent SPs.

In-protocol Security

Please describe your contributions to the security of Filecoin and the duration over which you've made contributions. Please also include any links or references that can substantiate your contributions.

PiKNiK's architects and senior techincal leadership have contributed to the Filecoin protocol through numerous Github issue request listed below:

Alex Fox - https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/issues/created_by/neondragon
Has been contributing since Nov 26, 2021 in numerous ways to the security of Filecoin through detecting Lotus issues and suggesting improvements such as: 
- Storage deals getting stuck or failing add piece
- PreCommit logic improvement
- New query-ask format suggestion
- Lotus-bench quick PC2 or C2 improvements
- Reported bug with sectors in shared storage being beleted
- Disconnected worker improvements
- Market node write permission for retrieval enhancement

Also submitted: FIP Proposal - https://github.com/filecoin-project/FIPs/issues/93
Which addresses upgrading sectors and how its power should be consistent with a newly sealed sector.

Benjamin Højsbo - https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/issues/created_by/benjaminh83
Has been contributing since Aug 10, 2020 in numerous ways to the security of Filecoin through detecting Lotus issue such as
- Bug with dedicated PreCommit2 worker
- CommittingFailed with sector containing deals
- Sectors stuck in WaitDeals failing ProviderEventDealHandoff
- Sectors stuck in StorageDealStaged
- Bug with sectors extend
- Bug with lotus-miner / markets subsystem crash
- Suggested that the dagstore destroy shard if sector is lost
- Suggested a command to remove expired sectors
- Bug with offline deal imports crashing the market node
- Bug with unsealing job being scheduled even though unsealed copy exist
- Issue with AddPiece on multicore CPUs
- Lotus market bug with too many active transfers
- Bug with hwloc calculation on Multicore Milan EPYCs
- Bug with snap-up sector stalled in FinalizeReplicaUpdate
which caused the creation of https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/pull/8177

James Hoang - https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/issues/6095
- Assisted in some Lotus feature testing since Apr 22, 2021. Found an issue where unsealed copy of a sector containing a deal would stay on the remote worker during an offline deal.

Organizational Reputation

Please describe the nature of your organization, including the country of registration, size of the organization, and time since inception.

Aiming to be a leader in Web3 Storage as well as an ecosystem multipler (for the Filecoin ecosystem).
Country of Registration - United States of America
Size of the Organization - 30+ employees
Time since inception - 1.5 years (November 2020).

Please share any relevant details to help substantiate information about your organization (website, named officers, links to social media profiles).

Company Website - https://www.piknik.com/

Co-founder - Kevin Huynh
Co-founder - Patrick Yu
VP of Research and Development - Benjamin Højsbo
LinkedIn Links and Profiles for the above - https://www.piknik.com/about

Please share any relevant external information regarding your organization (e.g. news articles, social media profiles, etc.)

New Articles
Storage Provider Spotlight - https://filecoinfoundation.medium.com/filecoin-storage-provider-spotlight-piknik-daf8bad5645d
Bloomberg Web3 Article - bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-10/web3-is-crypto-s-attempt-to-reinvent-the-internet-here-s-what-you-should-know

Social Media Profiles
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/piknikus/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/piknik_us
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PiKNiK.US/

Individual Reputation

Please share links to at least 2 of your (personal) social media profiles (or accounts that you are able to use) and the approximate size of your audience (i.e., followers, subscribers) for each one.

LinkedIn - 168 connections
https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-hoang-542257138/

Twitter - 190 Followers
https://twitter.com/KevForTheHuynh

Diversity and Decentralization

Use Case Diversity

(Optional) Any additional information you'd like to share about the use case(s) you plan to support?

PiKNiK is interested in helping the Filecoin ecosystem on-board more real valuable data to the network while also helping double check that the data being approved is actually valuable data.

Allocation Plan

Concreteness of Allocation Plan

Allocation Strategy

How do you plan on allocating the DataCap requested above? Please describe your allocation strategy with as much specificity as you can. This includes the target amount per client and rate at which you'll allocate DataCap.

PiKNiK will allocate different amounts of DataCap depending on several factors for the Storage Providers that the client plans on working with.
1. Trust and reputation - It is important that the Client we are allocating DataCap towards is reputable and can be trusted to correctly use the DataCap.
- Check SP's miner actors through the use of blockchain explorers like filfox.info and the Starboard reputation system - https://sprd.starboard.ventures/home
- Check SP team's social media, LinkedIn, and Filecoin Slack involvement for their reputability.
- Check SP's miner actor's data center colocation to see if they are able to store data using best practices.

2. Previous usage of DataCap - PiKNiK will do spot checks on the Clients to see if they are allocating the DataCap properly (i.e. 5 copies of the Dataset on 5 different SPs and not 1).
- Check the follow of datacap and how much is going to each of the SPs that the client said they would work with. This will be tracked in: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZgzkpAx5uQsdcVEk11W2NvDkyKKwo4YGEnyzKzaeMWE/edit?usp=sharing

3. Size and scability - Increasingly large DataCap request should only be given to Clients that are willing to further the Filecoin ecosystem and are working with SPs that have the same vision and can also support the datacap being allocated to the client.
- Check that the SPs have enough capacity to store the data and how much more capacity they plan on allocating.
- Check that the SPs are following best practices when it comes to their data redundancy plans.
- Check that the SPs can support and seal the deals in a reasonable amount of time. (TiBs per day).

How do you plan on securing the DataCap to ensure your organization (and its delegated members) are the ones allocating the DataCap?

PiKNiK will use a secure hardware wallet where only organization executives will have access.

Client Due Diligence

How will you vet the clients that are applying for DataCap? What questions will you ask to ensure your trust is placed well and that clients can properly handle the DataCap you intend to allocate to them?

PiKNiK will do its due diligence in checking which SPs that the client plans on sending the DataCap. Ideally they are a notable contributing member in the Filecoin ecosystem or have some other reputational sound background.

Client Diligence Process
1. Check if the client has any miner actors and if they do, use blockchain explorers like filfox.info and the Starboard reputation system to see if they are knowledgeable about Lotus deal making and sealing.
2. Check the client's social media, LinkedIn, and Filecoin Slack involvement for their reputability.
3. Check if the client has participated in any community events.

What processes will you employ when granting additional DataCap to a client that has previously been verified? This includes confirming that the client is not improperly using the DataCap they were previously granted, i.e., making deals with a single SP entity.

We will ask the client to provide the address in which they are requesting DataCap. We will start with checking all of the deals that a client is sending out to other SPs. Then we will aspire to automate via a script in place that will check the total amount of DataCap that is going to each of the SP nodes where they are sending the verified storage deals.

Bookkeeping Plan

Do you plan on conducting all your allocation decisions in public (e.g. Github repo), private (e.g. over email, Telegram, etc), or both?

In public on the Github repo.

Where do you plan on keeping a publicly accessible record of all your allocation decisions?

Publicly Shared Spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZgzkpAx5uQsdcVEk11W2NvDkyKKwo4YGEnyzKzaeMWE/edit?usp=sharing

Service Level Agreement

Engagement in Program

How much time per week, on average, are you willing to dedicate to participating in the Fil+ program? This includes making DataCap allocations (direct and/or Large Datasets), comments on discussion/issues, attendance in governance calls, messages in Slack, etc.

10 hours (2 hours a day)

Track Record

Past allocation

Have you previously received DataCap to allocate before? If so, please link to any previous applications.

We have not previously received DataCap.

Cumulatively, how much DataCap have you previously successfully allocated?

N/A

[galen-mcandrew]

PiKNiK - Round 3 Notary Election Scorecard.pdf

[Kevin-FF-USA]

Hi @jamerduhgamer based on this Notary election cycle's final scoring, you/your organization has qualified to be a Fil+ Notary! You will be receiving your final scored rubric soon, along with the total allocation of Datacap based on rubric scoring.

In order to confirm your participation as a Notary in the Fil+ ecosystem, please respond to the following:

1. Please confirm that the region of operation for client applications you will focus on is North America.



2. Please confirm each of the following items below (you can do this by quoting each of the following bullets and adding a line under each section agreeing that you'll abide by these operational principles).



   • Upfront Disclosures: Prior to being confirmed as a Notary, Notaries are expected to disclose all relevant addresses which they control, have a financial stake in, or are strongly connected to by other means. For the disclosure, the Notary should state the relevant addresses and the nature of the relationship
.

   • Promoting Client Best Practices: Notaries agree to educate approved clients about the best practices for using their DataCap (e.g. how to request additional services from miners, storing data redundantly across many miners, etc). Some reference information can be found here.


   • Commitment to efficiently serving the Network: Notaries agree to serve as fiduciaries of the Network, striving to work towards bringing useful data onto Filecoin and improving the experience for clients to do so. Notaries should generally be able to respond to Client applications and updates within 3 days, and should be comfortable communicating with Clients and Notaries if an application needs to be redirected.


   • No Self Dealing: To prevent conflicts of interest, Notaries should not allocate DataCap to Clients over which they control the private keys, or to a Client who intends to specifically spend the allocated DataCap with an address affiliated with the Notary. When in doubt, Notaries should bias towards transparency (i.e. public disclosure) or to getting a different Notary to handle the individual request.


   • Operating in Good Faith: Notaries hold a position of trust in the network, and as such it is expected that they operate keeping the Principles of this mechanism in mind. While each form of abuse cannot be exhaustively defined, Notaries are expected to bias towards caution and act in a way that promotes transparency. Notaries should expect to potentially receive requests or questions for allocation decisions (within reason) - and should make decisions with this in mind.


   • Community Governance Participation: It is expected that you will participate in the program 10 hours a week. Along with data allocation, participation in Github issues and Slack conversations, Notaries are to make an effort to regularly attend the scheduled Governance calls. As these calls are a forum to shape this process, it is important to ensure Notaries are present to provide their context, with discussions and input.


3. Please list any addresses you are affiliated with, and state the nature of the relationship. Please refer to the first bullet point in (2) for the definition of "affiliated", and bias towards transparency when in doubt.



4. Please affirm that you will abide by the allocation / client due diligence plan you laid out above.



5. (If ready) Please confirm the address that should receive DataCap. This is the address which you will use to sign messages on-chain to verify clients (through using a Ledger and the Fil+ Registry App). If you have an active (non-zero) DataCap grant from a previous election cycle, please provide a different address here.

   • If you do not have a ledger already, we recommend ordering directly from the Manufacturer for the Nano S or Nano X (link: https://shop.ledger.com/pages/ledger-nano-x)


[jamerduhgamer]

1. Yes, our region of operation for client applications will be focused in North America.

2. Please confirm each of the following items below (you can do this by quoting each of the following bullets and adding a line under each section agreeing that you'll abide by these operational principles).

• Upfront Disclosures: Prior to being confirmed as a Notary, Notaries are expected to disclose all relevant addresses which they control, have a financial stake in, or are strongly connected to by other means. For the disclosure, the Notary should state the relevant addresses and the nature of the relationship

We agree to disclosing all relevant addresses and the nature of the relationship and have done so in point 3 below.

• Promoting Client Best Practices: Notaries agree to educate approved clients about the best practices for using their DataCap (e.g. how to request additional services from miners, storing data redundantly across many miners, etc). Some reference information can be found here.

We agree to educate approved clients on the best practices for using their DataCap.

• Commitment to efficiently serving the Network: Notaries agree to serve as fiduciaries of the Network, striving to work towards bringing useful data onto Filecoin and improving the experience for clients to do so. Notaries should generally be able to respond to Client applications and updates within 3 days, and should be comfortable communicating with Clients and Notaries if an application needs to be redirected.

We agree to serve as fiduciaries of the Network.

• No Self Dealing: To prevent conflicts of interest, Notaries should not allocate DataCap to Clients over which they control the private keys, or to a Client who intends to specifically spend the allocated DataCap with an address affiliated with the Notary. When in doubt, Notaries should bias towards transparency (i.e. public disclosure) or to getting a different Notary to handle the individual request.

We agree to not allocate DataCap to Clients over which we control the private keys.

• Operating in Good Faith: Notaries hold a position of trust in the network, and as such it is expected that they operate keeping the Principles of this mechanism in mind. While each form of abuse cannot be exhaustively defined, Notaries are expected to bias towards caution and act in a way that promotes transparency. Notaries should expect to potentially receive requests or questions for allocation decisions (within reason) - and should make decisions with this in mind.

We agree to express caution and act in a way that promotes transparency and keep this in mind when making allocation decisions.

• Community Governance Participation: It is expected that you will participate in the program 10 hours a week. Along with data allocation, participation in Github issues and Slack conversations, Notaries are to make an effort to regularly attend the scheduled Governance calls. As these calls are a forum to shape this process, it is important to ensure Notaries are present to provide their context, with discussions and input.

We agree to attend the scheduled Governance calls and participate in GitHub issues and Slack conversations.

3. List of addresses PiKNiK is affiliated with:
   f066596 - PiKNiK's 32 GB miner
   f0678914 - PiKNiK's 64 GB miner
   f01051828 - PiKNiK's mining as a service client
   f0828066 - PiKNiK's mining as a service client
   f01175097 - PiKNiK's mining as a service client
   f0763337 - PiKNiK's mining as a service client
   f01419959 - PiKNiK's mining as a service client
   f01760317 - ESPA participant
   f01756173 - ESPA participant
   f01755793 - ESPA participant

4. We confirm that we will abide by the allocation / client due diligence plan.

5. We will create a new wallet on a Ledger Nano S and post the address here when it has been created.
   Address - f1ypuqpi4xn5q7zi5at3rmdltosozifhqmrt66vhq

[galen-mcandrew]

@jamerduhgamer

Please fill out this form to move forwards with the ratification process: https://airtable.com/shrs55Lzbm1wJTIRw

[Kevin-FF-USA]

Hello @jamerduhgamer!

Really appreciate you filling out the acknowledgments for the Notary kickoff in this ticket. There is some additional information needed in order to finalize, can you please follow this link to complete by April 15th?
Acceptance Form

[jamerduhgamer]

So sorry about not completing this link by the deadline! Just updated my message above with the wallet address and filled out the acceptance form as well!

[jamerduhgamer]

Notary Ledger Verified

Message sent to Filecoin Network

message CID: bafy2bzaced4ishwq342ib77v4qzdkwh2qddpasfmrc37vbuxumo42wyyton5e

You can check the status of the message here: https://filfox.info/en/message/bafy2bzaced4ishwq342ib77v4qzdkwh2qddpasfmrc37vbuxumo42wyyton5e

[filecoin-notaries-onboarding-bot]

Thanks for your request!
❗ We have found some problems in the information provided.
We could not find your Filecoin address in the information provided
We could not find the Datacap requested in the information provided

    Please, take a look at the request and edit the body of the issue providing all the required information.

[galen-mcandrew]

Request Approved

Address

f1ypuqpi4xn5q7zi5at3rmdltosozifhqmrt66vhq

Datacap Allocated

100TiB

[filecoin-plus-bot]

The request has been signed by a new Root Key Holder

Message sent to Filecoin Network

bafy2bzacednmzebmqjgks22dq425g4ffljow5gejgxo6avpcaifnzkojfpe2w

You can check the status of the message here: https://filfox.info/en/message/bafy2bzacednmzebmqjgks22dq425g4ffljow5gejgxo6avpcaifnzkojfpe2w

[filecoin-plus-bot]

The request has been signed by a new Root Key Holder

Message sent to Filecoin Network

bafy2bzacebz44a7ix7tuhqkcckpfl6tjvhvbfleqqy4werkfm5j5mosq6niny

You can check the status of the message here: https://filfox.info/en/message/bafy2bzacebz44a7ix7tuhqkcckpfl6tjvhvbfleqqy4werkfm5j5mosq6niny

[jamerduhgamer]

Notary Ledger Verified

Message sent to Filecoin Network

message CID: bafy2bzacebx5ne6gm32pozjxij26r3ws2mfcnvv72pxs6jgvolecnza3c6vve

You can check the status of the message here: https://filfox.info/en/message/bafy2bzacebx5ne6gm32pozjxij26r3ws2mfcnvv72pxs6jgvolecnza3c6vve