Virtualization
Resource Virtualization
z Separating the abstract view of computing
resources from the implementation of these
resources
z A layer of indirection between abstract view and
implementation
− Hides implementation details
− C t l mapping
Controls i ffrom abstract
b t t view
i tto iimplementation
l t ti
"any problem in computer science can be
solved with another layer of indirection"
– David Wheeler
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Virtual Machines
App 1 App 2 App 3
Operating System
Virtual
Machine Machine
CPU CPU Mem
Layer of Indirection (VMM)
Physical
Machine CPU CPU Mem Net
Virtual Machines
App 1 App 2 App 3 App 4 App 5
Operating System Operating System
Virtual Machine 1 Virtual Machine 2
CPU CPU Mem CPU Mem Net
Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM)
Physical
Machine CPU CPU Mem Net
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Machine Virtualization
z A virtual machine abstracts the computing
resources of a physical machine into virtual
resources
z End users only see the virtual resources
− Can install their operating systems and run their
applications on the virtual machines
z A Virtual Machine Monitor (or Hypervisor) is a
software layer that implements the mapping from
virtual resources to physical resources
Virtual Machine Monitors
z Strong isolation between virtual machines
z Flexible mapping between virtual resources and
physical resources
− Can have more virtual resources than the corresponding
physical resources
− Can reallocate physical resources among VMs
z Pause, resume, checkpoint, and migrate virtual
machines
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Virtual Storage
App 1 App 2 App 3
Operating System
Machine
CPU CPU Mem
Virtual
Disk
Storage Virtualization Layer
Physical
Storage
Why Use Virtual Machines?
z Server consolidation
− Traditional IT setup: one machine per application
(DBMS, web server, mail server, …)
− Provisioned for peak load. Usually under-utilized
− Instead, can run multiple applications on virtual machines
that share the same physical machine
− Save hardware costs and administration/operation costs
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Server Consolidation
P2
Resource Resource
Requirement P1 Requirement
Time Time
P12 < P1 + P2
z Consolidate onto a single machine
− Easier to manage
− Less total capacity than the original two
− Better utilization than the original two
Consolidation
z Economies of scale
− Cheaper provisioning, administration, power, networking,
and cooling
z Users benefit too
− Efficient access to a larger pool of resources with better
manageability and fault tolerance
Worldwide spending on servers in 2007: US$200 billion
(30% new servers, 10% power and cooling, 60% administration)
Source: IDC, 2008
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Cloud Computing
z Consolidation on massive, shared, hosted
computer clusters
Why Use Virtual Machines?
z Improved
p manageability
g y
− Dynamic provisioning of resources to VMs
− Migration of VMs for load balancing
− Migration of VMs to avoid down time during
upgrades
z Isolation between VMs
− Security
− Privacy
− Fault tolerance
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Why Use Virtual Machines?
z Application
pp compatibility
p y
− Different environments for different applications
Why Use Virtual Machines?
z Software development
p and testing
g
− Multiple environments for development and
testing
z Software deployment
− Preconfigured virtual appliances
− Repositories
p of virtual appliances
pp on the web
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Virtual Appliances
http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/appliances
Virtual Appliances
http://virtualappliances.net/downloads/
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Why Not Use Virtual Machines?
z Performance penalty
− Indirection through VMM adds overhead
z Hiding details of physical resources
− Some applications make decisions based on
assumptions about the physical resources
Basic Approach to Virtualization
User Process
(user mode)
syscall/exception non-privileged privileged
access access
Kernel
(privileged mode) Exception Handler
privileged
access trap
Physical
Machine CPU CPU Mem Net
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Trap-and-Emulate Virtualization
User Process
(user mode)
Operating System
(user mode)
privileged Virtual Machine Monitor
access Trap Handler (privileged mode)
trap
Physical
Machine CPU CPU Mem Net
Trap-and-Emulate Virtualization
z Run VMM in privileged mode
z Run OS in user mode
z Privileged operations by the OS will trap
z Trap handler in VMM emulates these operations as
if they were run on the virtual machine
z Non-privileged operations can proceed as before
with no intervention from the VMM
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Architectural Obstacles
z Some machine architectures are not easy to
virtualize
− Notable example: x86
z Not all privileged operations trap when run in user
mode
− Example: popf (pop stack into flags)
Privileged mode: change user and system flags
User mode: change user flags only, no trap
z Some privileged state is visible in user mode
− Example: Machine status word
z For an architecture like x86, trap-and-emulate
alone will not work
Virtualization Approaches
z Binary rewriting
− Operating system running in VM is unmodified
− VMM scans Guest OS memory for problematic
instructions and rewrites them
− Example: VMware Workstation
z Paravirtualization
− Software interface to VMM is not identical to hardware
− Operating systems need to be ported to run on VMM
− Simpler VMM and faster virtual machines than with
trap-and-emulate
− Example: Xen
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Hardware Virtualization for x86
z Intel and AMD have both introduced processor
extensions to help virtualization (Intel VT, AMD-V)
z Processor is aware of multiple virtual machine
contexts (like process control blocks, but for entire
operating system)
z New instructions to start/resume a VM
z New privilege level for VMM
z VMM selects which events should trap (vmexit)
− Manipulating interrupt state, interacting with TLB,
accessing control registers, …
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