Operating System Support for Virtual Machines

Abstract: A virtual-machine monitor (VMM) is a useful technique for adding functionality below existing operating system and application software. One class of VMMs (called Type II VMMs) builds on the abstractions provided by a host operating system. Type II VMMs are elegant and convenient, but their performance is currently an order of magnitude slower than that achieved when running outside a virtual machine (a standalone system). In this paper, we examine the reasons for this large overhead for Type II VMMs. We find that a few simple extensions to a host operating system can make it a much faster platform for running a VMM. Taking advantage of these extensions reduces virtualization overhead for a Type II VMM to 14-35% overhead, even for workloads that exercise the virtual machine intensively.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: USENIX
• Authors: Samuel T. King, George W. Dunlap, Peter M. Chen
• Keywords: Host Operating System, Operating System, Type Ii Vmm, USENIX 2003