Re: [Xen-users] pci passthrough and svm

[Mike Power <mpower@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I can not pass through PCI with out VT-d or equivalent
AMD doesn't have a VT-d equivalent out yet
You must use VT-d to pass through PCI devices to an hvm
Windows must be run under hvm.

Hence I can not pass PCI devices through to Windows.

Paul Schulze wrote:
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> Forgot to CC, so here is a copy of my answer.
>
> Forwardl:
>
> > Von: Paul Schulze <avlex@xxxxxxx>
> > Datum: 10. September 2008 19:33:57 MESZ
> > An: mpower@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Betreff: Re: [Xen-users] pci passthrough and svm
> >
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> > Hi Mike,
> >
> > The bad news (as far as my understanding of this goes, no clue if its 
> > technically correct): At the moment, there is no AMD equivalent for 
> > VT-d. AMD SVM is a CPU virtualization extension, comparable with IVT. 
> > VT-d, is an IOMMU, that probably resides with the memory controller 
> > and handles virtualization and protection of DMA. So in case of an 
> > Intel CPU on the mainboard (no clue if it needs special support on 
> > the CPU on top of that). AMD first announced to implement an 
> > equivalent to that technology quite a few years ago, but up until now 
> > there are no products I can think of that include such a feature. 
> > However, CPUs, supporting it are rumored to be released early in 
> > 2009, so there is hope (for me too, because my Xen server is built on 
> > AMD hardware as well).
> > And the good news: Even though there is no IOMMU support on AMD 
> > platforms, it is possible to pass PCI hardware through to a 
> > paravirtualized DomU. This feature does not depend on VT-d, with the 
> > exception of PCI passthrough to HVM domains (to Windows for example). 
> > Like I said, I am on an AMD platform and I have succeeded in passing 
> > though multiple devices, including USB controllers, audio devices and 
> > network devices (no graphics cards though). However, when passing PCI 
> > devices to a paravirtualized domain, always remember that there is no 
> > protection against faulty or malicious memory access due to the 
> > missing IOMMU, enabling the DomU to potentially access even Dom0 memory.
> > Cheers,
> >
> >
> > Paul.
> > - --
> > Paul Schulze
> > Mail: avlex  gmx  net ($1@$2.$3)
> > Public Key: http://solaris-net.dyndns.org/keys/key_avlex.asc
> >
> > "Making mistakes is human,
> > but to really screw things up, you need Computers"
> >
> >
> >
> > Am 10.09.2008 um 17:50 schrieb Mike Power:
> >
> > > I noticed talk of pci passthrough seems to always be in reference to 
> > > VT_D which from my understanding is an intel technology.  Is there 
> > > equivalent and xen enabled functionality from AMD's svm technology?
> > > Mike Power
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Xen-users mailing list
> > > Xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
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> - --
> Paul Schulze
> Mail: avlex  gmx  net ($1@$2.$3)
> Public Key: http://solaris-net.dyndns.org/keys/key_avlex.asc
>
> "Making mistakes is human,
> but to really screw things up, you need Computers"
>
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