WARNING - OLD ARCHIVES

This is an archived copy of the Xen.org mailing list, which we have preserved to ensure that existing links to archives are not broken. The live archive, which contains the latest emails, can be found at http://lists.xen.org/
   
 
 
Xen 
 
Home Products Support Community News
 
   
 

xen-devel

[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>
Delivery-date: Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:13:15 -0700
Envelope-to: www-data@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In-reply-to: <20090602232843.GA6577@xxxxxxx>
List-help: <mailto:xen-users-request@lists.xensource.com?subject=help>
List-id: Xen user discussion <xen-users.lists.xensource.com>
List-post: <mailto:xen-users@lists.xensource.com>
List-subscribe: <http://lists.xensource.com/mailman/listinfo/xen-users>, <mailto:xen-users-request@lists.xensource.com?subject=subscribe>
List-unsubscribe: <http://lists.xensource.com/mailman/listinfo/xen-users>, <mailto:xen-users-request@lists.xensource.com?subject=unsubscribe>
References: <162f4c90-6431-4a2a-b337-6d7451d7b11e@default> <20090528001350.GD26820@xxxxxxx> <4A1F302E.8030501@xxxxxxxx> <20090528.210559.137121893.davem@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> <4A1FCE8E.2060604@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> <20090602224051.GB32428@xxxxxxxxxxx> <20090602232843.GA6577@xxxxxxx>
Sender: xen-users-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
User-agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.2-6 (X11/20050513)
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

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