Date: Sat, 23 May 2009 03:23:56 +0200 From: Julian Stecklina <js@alien8.de> To: Kip Macy <kmacy@freebsd.org> Cc: freebsd-xen@freebsd.org, freebsd-current@freebsd.org, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: My FreeBSD-current/Xen install notes Message-ID: <87octk4no3.fsf@tabernacle.lan> In-Reply-To: <3c1674c90905221246x6323cd25w99664334c6a6a2c4@mail.gmail.com> (Kip Macy's message of "Fri\, 22 May 2009 12\:46\:20 -0700") References: <d763ac660905180553x5c7b3c5bq61acab3d28810a24@mail.gmail.com> <Pine.LNX.4.64.0905190807290.887@localhost> <d763ac660905182052t294e588bu593f1d660aef8b52@mail.gmail.com> <Pine.LNX.4.64.0905190944510.1090@localhost> <d763ac660905190631p2ff604b0gaa12ee3026b91ebc@mail.gmail.com> <Pine.LNX.4.64.0905192149580.6589@localhost> <d763ac660905191730n2d6313edhac6c866de20f137d@mail.gmail.com> <20090521215221.GA98253@server.vk2pj.dyndns.org> <87pre1nvl9.fsf@tabernacle.lan> <3c1674c90905221246x6323cd25w99664334c6a6a2c4@mail.gmail.com>
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Kip Macy <kmacy@freebsd.org> writes: > Based on L4Linux, I believe that the amount of work required for > porting a PV OS is much less than creating a new "personality" for a > microkernel. That said, isn't a hypervisor really a microkernel with > device and virtual memory abstraction API? OS personalities were a promise that was always brought up with microkernels, but never really delivered. Although, L4Linux could be seen as "Linux personality" for L4. The nice thing about microkernels is that they abstract enough of the underlying hardware to be open for a lot of experimenting. I think this is quite nice for student projects. On the microkernel vs. hypervisor topic: L4 has a very nice virtual memory abstraction and you can build device abstraction quite easily on top of it. If you only want paravirtualization, L4 could have delivered that years before Xen did. And actually it did: L4Linux exists for quite some time and I believe that there was also a paper on live migration of L4Linux instances way before Xen did that. IMHO given some commercial support (and some foresight), L4 could have been the better Xen. Regards, -- Julian Stecklina The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck is probably the day they start making vacuum cleaners - Ernst Jan Plugge
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