dragonfly bsd and vkernels

[Joe Gain <joe.gain@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone,

this is a really general question, but I'm just starting my bachelor thesis, which is going to have something to do with virtualization (probably network virtualization) and I was just wondering how dragonfly bsd's kernel virtualization fit's into the virtualization scene? How would vkernels fit into categories like full-virtualization (Qemu), paravirtualization (Xen), and O/S virtualization (Jails)? Also, are vkernels mainly for kernel development (and sandboxing), or do people also use them to create virtual machines for running servers, routers, clustering etc.? 

The Wikipedia article about User-mode Linux says:

> User-mode Linux is generally considered to have lower performance than some competing technologies, such as Xen and OpenVZ[citation needed]. Future work in adding support for x86 virtualization to UML may reduce this disadvantage.
>
> Often cited as a strength of Xen (a competing technology) is support for Thread Local Storage (TLS). This is now also supported in the latest UML kernels. Xen concentrates on virtualizing the whole machine, and thus all systems running on a Xen machine are really virtual machines. In UML, the host machine is not virtualized in any way, and only guest systems are true virtual machines.

And the Wiki article about dragonfly bsd says:
> The virtual kernel is run in completely isolated environment with 
> emulated network and storage interfaces, thus simplifying testing the 
> drivers, kernel subsystems and clustering features.

And in an article from 2007, on the Kernel Trap site, one of the major goals of dragonfly bsd is said to be:
> My primary goal is to eventually have a fully cross-machine coherent and
>  transparent cluster OS capable of migrating processes (and thus the 
> work load) on the fly.  Doing this properly requires direct, integrated 
> support in the kernel.  We are probably two years away from 
> accomplishing this goal.

Can anyone say how this part of the project is developing? What are the competing products and how would dragonfly bsd like to fit into this market?

Thanks,

Joe

PS. I'd be happy to update the wiki page with any relevant new information!

-- 
joe gain

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germany

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