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Hardware and Software Support for Virtualization
This book focuses on the core question of the necessary architectural support provided by hardware to efficiently run virtual machines, and of the corresponding design of the hypervisors that run them. Virtualization is still possible when the instruction set architecture lacks such support, but the hypervisor remains more complex and must rely on additional techniques.
Despite the focus on architectural support in current architectures, some historical perspective is necessary to appropriately frame the problem. The first half of the book provides the historical perspective of the theoretical framework developed four decades ago by Popek and Goldberg. It also describes earlier systems that enabled virtualization despite the lack of architectural support in hardware.
As is often the case, theory defines a necessary--but not sufficient--set of features, and modern architectures are the result of the combination of the theoretical framework with insights derived from practical systems. The second half of the book describes state-of-the-art support for virtualization in both x86-64 and ARM processors. This book includes an in-depth description of the CPU, memory, and I/O virtualization of these two processor architectures, as well as case studies on the Linux/KVM, VMware, and Xen hypervisors. It concludes with a performance comparison of virtualization on current-generation x86- and ARM-based systems across multiple hypervisors.
Despite the focus on architectural support in current architectures, some historical perspective is necessary to appropriately frame the problem. The first half of the book provides the historical perspective of the theoretical framework developed four decades ago by Popek and Goldberg. It also describes earlier systems that enabled virtualization despite the lack of architectural support in hardware.
As is often the case, theory defines a necessary--but not sufficient--set of features, and modern architectures are the result of the combination of the theoretical framework with insights derived from practical systems. The second half of the book describes state-of-the-art support for virtualization in both x86-64 and ARM processors. This book includes an in-depth description of the CPU, memory, and I/O virtualization of these two processor architectures, as well as case studies on the Linux/KVM, VMware, and Xen hypervisors. It concludes with a performance comparison of virtualization on current-generation x86- and ARM-based systems across multiple hypervisors.
206 pages, ebook
Published February 21, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 31, 2020
It's very rare that you get a book that tells you *exactly* what the title suggests. After being left *severely* disappointed by "Virtual Machines: Versatile Platforms for Systems and Processes" this is quite a breath of fresh air. It's a very complete and up-to-date evaluation of the challenges behind implementing virtual machine monitors which sets the backdrop for the various solutions that we see today (VMWare, KVM). The only requirement is a basic knowledge about operating systems.
October 18, 2024
This is a great overview of virtualization. Im not 100% sure if it is still up to date as this field is moving fast and its been a few years, but it covers the fundamentals of the field so well its probably worth reading. Plus HW support moves slower and is typically based off legacy decisions.
Warning: This is not a beginner book. It expects you to be well familiar with most operating system concepts and virtualization techniques as well as some HW concepts. If you need a review or want to learn that stuff I reccomend “Three Easy Pieces”, its a free OS book that covers all you will need.
Warning: This is not a beginner book. It expects you to be well familiar with most operating system concepts and virtualization techniques as well as some HW concepts. If you need a review or want to learn that stuff I reccomend “Three Easy Pieces”, its a free OS book that covers all you will need.
September 13, 2025
pretty good. statistics are hard to comprehend.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews