KOAN OF CAMBRIDGE

The long-expected Xen version 3 was finally released late last year. Xen, which is sponsored by the University of Cambridge, England, has developed into one of the leading virtualization solutions for Linux. Global Linux players, including Novell, RedHat, HP, IBM, Intel, and AMD, have thrown their support to Xen. Thanks to its excellent performance and low cost, the Xen virtual machine monitor could be the catalyst we have all been waiting for to boost virtualization in Linux. Guest Control The recent evolution of virtual computing has centered on the problem of delivering a virtualized environment with minimal system overhead. So-called full virtualization involves mapping computer chips, such as the CPU or the keyboard controller, to software. Full virtualization makes the virtual machine independent of its physical underpinnings, and is thus very flexible, but the structure necessary to maintain full virtualization adds complexity that significantly affects performance.