Cloud Architecture

Carbon Credit Ledger: Database or Blockchain?

Mission Briefing

Carbon credits need immutable, auditable records. Two AWS options: (1) DynamoDB with strict versioning, or (2) Amazon QLDB — a managed ledger DB with a cryptographically verifiable journal. Build the data layer for a marketplace where farmers list verified credits, corporates purchase and retire them, and every transaction is permanently recorded.

How it fits together

Follow the request/data flow through the architecture.

Amazon DynamoDB

→

Amazon QLDB

→

Immutability

→

Audit Trail

Concept Walkthrough

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Amazon DynamoDB

Fully managed serverless NoSQL key-value/document database.

Why it matters

Single-digit-millisecond latency at any scale with no servers.

When to use it

Use for known access patterns at high scale. Avoid for ad-hoc analytical queries (use Athena/Redshift).

Example

python

table.put_item(Item={
    "pk": "USER#42", "sk": "PROFILE",
    "name": "Ada", "plan": "pro"
})  # design around access patterns, not normalized tables

Gotcha (exam trap)

You model around access patterns, not relations. A poor partition key creates "hot partitions" that throttle.

Hands-on: Infrastructure as Code

A realistic main.tf for this mission. Read it top to bottom — it mirrors the concepts above.

hcl

# Carbon Credit Ledger: Database or Blockchain?
# BleepxCloud — ESG · Intermediate
# Realistic starter — adapt names, regions and CIDRs to your environment.

terraform {
  required_providers { aws = { source = "hashicorp/aws", version = "~> 5.0" } }
}

provider "aws" {
  region = "eu-west-1"   # pick a region close to users / data-residency rules
}

# FinOps: mandatory cost-allocation tags on every resource.
locals {
  common_tags = {
    Project    = "bleepx-cloud"
    Domain     = "esg"
    Mission    = "carbon-ledger"
    ManagedBy  = "terraform"
    CostCenter = "REPLACE_ME"
  }
}

data "aws_caller_identity" "current" {}

# Single-table design with on-demand billing and a GSI.
resource "aws_dynamodb_table" "app" {
  name         = "bleepx-app"
  billing_mode = "PAY_PER_REQUEST"   # no capacity planning
  hash_key     = "pk"
  range_key    = "sk"

  attribute { name = "pk"; type = "S" }
  attribute { name = "sk"; type = "S" }
  attribute { name = "gsi1pk"; type = "S" }

  global_secondary_index {
    name            = "gsi1"
    hash_key        = "gsi1pk"
    projection_type = "ALL"
  }
  point_in_time_recovery { enabled = true }
}

Knowledge Check

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Mission Briefing

Hands-on: Infrastructure as Code

A realistic main.tf for this mission. Read it top to bottom — it mirrors the concepts above.

hcl

# Carbon Credit Ledger: Database or Blockchain?
# BleepxCloud — ESG · Intermediate
# Realistic starter — adapt names, regions and CIDRs to your environment.

terraform {
  required_providers { aws = { source = "hashicorp/aws", version = "~> 5.0" } }
}

provider "aws" {
  region = "eu-west-1"   # pick a region close to users / data-residency rules
}

# FinOps: mandatory cost-allocation tags on every resource.
locals {
  common_tags = {
    Project    = "bleepx-cloud"
    Domain     = "esg"
    Mission    = "carbon-ledger"
    ManagedBy  = "terraform"
    CostCenter = "REPLACE_ME"
  }
}

data "aws_caller_identity" "current" {}

# Single-table design with on-demand billing and a GSI.
resource "aws_dynamodb_table" "app" {
  name         = "bleepx-app"
  billing_mode = "PAY_PER_REQUEST"   # no capacity planning
  hash_key     = "pk"
  range_key    = "sk"

  attribute { name = "pk"; type = "S" }
  attribute { name = "sk"; type = "S" }
  attribute { name = "gsi1pk"; type = "S" }

  global_secondary_index {
    name            = "gsi1"
    hash_key        = "gsi1pk"
    projection_type = "ALL"
  }
  point_in_time_recovery { enabled = true }
}