21 Inc has announced the launch of ping21, a service that allows users to check the uptime or latency of any given website from Bitcoin Computers on the 21 network. This is the first release in a series of projects related to the Internet of Things that the company plans to release in the coming weeks.
How Does It Work?
Thanks to the release of its Bitcoin Computer last year, 21 has created a decentralized network of machines that are financially connected to each other via Bitcoin. Ping21 essentially takes advantage of 21’s network of devices to process various requests in exchange for Bitcoin. This first service offered by the network allows web developers to see whether a specific device or server is online or experiencing connectivity issues.
Ping21 also takes advantage of 21’s micropayments marketplace , which means the relatively high fees (at least in this context) associated with on-chain Bitcoin transactions will be avoided.
Webmasters will also soon be able to pay to ping even more devices once the 21 Bitcoin Computer is no longer a requirement to join the grid-computing network.
Why is Ping21 Useful?
Individuals who have not built their own websites in the past may not understand the value of this new offering from 21. The ability to ping a website from many different locations around the world allows a webmaster to understand whether there are any potential connectivity issues for their site visitors.
There are already companies, such as Pingdom , which allow webmasters to determine how their website’s connectivity is performing in various parts of the world. These companies charge monthly fees to their customers because the idea of pay-per-ping was not practical before the existence of Bitcoin-enabled micropayments.With ping21, webmasters are able to pay for pings as they’re needed, and the decentralized nature of […]
