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[Xen-users] Re: Merge Xen (the hypervisor) into Linux

To: Ingo Molnar <mingo@xxxxxxx>
Subject: [Xen-users] Re: Merge Xen (the hypervisor) into Linux
From: "Chris Friesen" <cfriesen@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:31:13 -0600
Cc: "npiggin@xxxxxxx" <npiggin@xxxxxxx>, "jeremy@xxxxxxxx" <jeremy@xxxxxxxx>, "xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "wimcoekaerts@xxxxxxxxxxxx" <wimcoekaerts@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, "gregkh@xxxxxxx" <gregkh@xxxxxxx>, George Dunlap <george.dunlap@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "kurt.hackel@xxxxxxxxxx" <kurt.hackel@xxxxxxxxxx>, "x86@xxxxxxxxxx" <x86@xxxxxxxxxx>, Dan Magenheimer <dan.magenheimer@xxxxxxxxxx>, Steven Rostedt <rostedt@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Ian Pratt <Ian.Pratt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Stephen Spector <stephen.spector@xxxxxxxxxx>, "avi@xxxxxxxxxx" <avi@xxxxxxxxxx>, "EAnderson@xxxxxxxxxx" <EAnderson@xxxxxxxxxx>, "jens.axboe@xxxxxxxxxx" <jens.axboe@xxxxxxxxxx>, ksrinivasan <ksrinivasan@xxxxxxxxxx>, "torvalds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <torvalds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, David Miller <davem@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Keir Fraser <Keir.Fraser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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Ingo Molnar wrote:

> A lot of Xen legacies could be dropped: the crazy ring1 hack on 
> 32-bit, the various wide interfaces to make pure-software 
> virtualization limp along. All major CPUs shipped with hardware 
> virtualization support in the past 2-3 years, so the availability of 
> VMX and SVM can be taken for granted for such a project.

That's a pretty bold statement.  I have five x86 machines in my house
currently being used, and none of them support VMX/SVM.

At least some Lenovo laptops disable VMX in the BIOS with no way to
enable it.  Some of the Core2Duo chips don't support VMX at all.

I think Xen without paravirtualization would be a serious degradation of
usefulness.

Chris

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