The Ethereum network
The Ethereum network is a peer-to-peer network where nodes participate in order to maintain the blockchain and contribute to the consensus mechanism. Networks can be divided into three types, based on the requirements and usage: the main net, test nets, and private nets.
Main net
The main net is the current live network of Ethereum. Its network ID is 1 and its chainID is also 1. The network and chainIDs are used to identify the network. A block explorer that shows detailed information about blocks and other relevant metrics is available at https://etherscan.io. This can be used to explore the Ethereum blockchain.
Test nets
There are two main networks available for Ethereum testing. The aim of these test blockchains is to provide a testing environment for smart contracts and DApps before being deployed to the production live blockchain. Moreover, being test networks, they also allow experimentation and research. The main test net is called Sepolia...