Re: [Xen-devel] Question regarding XenSouce disk format

[Mark Williamson <mark.williamson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi there,

First off, this list deals mainly with the Open Source release of Xen.  This 
is not the same as XenSource's commercial products, although they share a 
common foundation.  Thus people here tend to only know about the open source 
codebase, not about Xen{Express,Server,Enterprise}

> I am looking at the specifications on the file used to store hard disks
> when virtual machines are created.
>
> For e.g VHD for Microsoft and VMDK for VMware. These formats have some
> specifications detailing the structure of the file/disk.
>
> However I not able to find the corresponding format for XenSource.

The open source Xen uses either "raw" hard disk files (i.e. just a file with 
the contents of the guest's hard disk in - no metadata) or can (I think) now 
use the qcow format also used by qemu.

It may sometimes use separate files for each partition the guest uses, rather 
than just a single file for the whole virtual disk.

> Also I read several articles indicating that XenSource has licensed VHD
> format for it 3.0 enterprise server. Does this mean that the image files
> created will be same as VHD files created by Microsoft's Virtual PC? Will
> these files have the .vhd extension and can they be directly used with
> Microsoft's VPC player?

This I don't really know about, since I'm not familiar with the XenSource 
product.  The forums on XenSource's website might be able to help you more 
with this.

I should think they would at least be able to import/export against this 
format.  Qemu provides tools for manipulating (and, I think, converting 
between) VMware's, MS's, and its own virtual disk formats.

Cheers,
Mark

-- 
Dave: Just a question. What use is a unicyle with no seat?  And no pedals!
Mark: To answer a question with a question: What use is a skateboard?
Dave: Skateboards have wheels.
Mark: My wheel has a wheel!

_______________________________________________
Xen-devel mailing list
Xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel