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Xen Dom0 Support May Come Back To Fedora

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  • Xen Dom0 Support May Come Back To Fedora

    Phoronix: Xen Dom0 Support May Come Back To Fedora

    With Xen Domain 0 support finally going into the mainline Linux kernel, those interested in virtualization atop Fedora are now looking at getting the Fedora Xen host support back up to speed for the next release (Fedora 15) or by the time that Fedora 16 rolls out. The Linux kernels since Fedora Core 8 have not been capable of Xen Dom0 hosting, but with the Linux 2.6.37 upstream merge that brings pvops-based support, work is getting underway within the Fedora community to better prepare this KVM alternative...

    Phoronix, Linux Hardware Reviews, Linux hardware benchmarks, Linux server benchmarks, Linux benchmarking, Desktop Linux, Linux performance, Open Source graphics, Linux How To, Ubuntu benchmarks, Ubuntu hardware, Phoronix Test Suite

  • #2
    Please, can't you let Xen die in peace? It's a horrible piece of software.

    Comment


    • #3
      Please, can't you let Xen die in peace? It's a horrible piece of software.
      Why do you say that? I've never used it, but I'm curious as to why you are so convinced it's terrible.

      Comment


      • #4
        @TechMage89

        It's a few things.

        Xen runs a hypervisor directly on the hardware and the dom0 and domu systems below that. Which might seem nice and solid in theory, but in practice, not so much. Realistically, if dom0 goes down, all domu guests will also go down. If dom0 is compromised, the whole system is compromised. I don't see how this approach is any better than running a hypervisor in a much simpler way on top of the OS, like KVM.

        More importantly, Xen's implementation is very bad. The dom0 support is extremely invasive. It's a megabyte-sized kernel patch for fucks sake. That's also why it still isn't part of vanilla Linux. There are lots of hardware compatibility issues as well (dom0): ACPI often doesn't work correctly, many drivers don't work right, etc.; that's why XenSource has to provide a compatibility list.

        Oh, and last but not least, the documentation blows and installation is complicated.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by brent View Post
          That's also why it still isn't part of vanilla Linux.
          As per article, it'll be part of vanilla Linux soonish.

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          • #6
            Installation isn't complicated...
            ## VGA ##
            AMD: X1950XTX, HD3870, HD5870
            Intel: GMA45, HD3000 (Core i5 2500K)

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            • #7
              Originally posted by darkbasic View Post
              Installation isn't complicated...
              No, its pretty brutal. Unless someone makes all the parts work perfectly for you before hand, Xen is a mess. And even then... it has issues.

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              • #8
                What? I find Xen much more mature, and stable than other virtualization technologies. I use it a lot, and I'm very happy that pvops dom0 is going into mainline.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by brent View Post
                  Xen runs a hypervisor directly on the hardware and the dom0 and domu systems below that.... Realistically, if dom0 goes down, all domu guests will also go down.
                  Once Dom0 is compromised a KVM (especially is virt-IO form) is just as vulnerable as Xen. While it's true that Xen is less of a clean solution (given the Hypervisor -> Dom0 -> DomU structure) it also has a number of built-in advantages (Cleaner implementation of PCI-backend) - let alone that fact that many desktops and netbook (or even low-end servers) lack VT extension (or have partial/outdated ones).

                  It's a megabyte-sized kernel patch for fucks sake. That's also why it still isn't part of vanilla Linux.
                  Wrong. The Xen Linux Dom0 is close to being fully integrated into the vanilla kernel.
                  Keep in mind that compared to the Linux/KVM, the Xen hypervisor is far smaller.

                  There are lots of hardware compatibility issues as well (dom0): ACPI often doesn't work correctly, many drivers don't work right, etc.; that's why XenSource has to provide a compatibility list.
                  I fully agree.
                  But keep in mind that once Xen Dom0 under Linux becomes "free" (making it far easier for distribution to ship it) this may improve considerably (nVidia - I'm looking at you!).

                  I do agree that as it stands, KVM looks far better (on VT-capable hardware).
                  However, as a stable long term solution, I prefer the dedicated hypervisor approach - especially if you VM server is also acting as a bleeding edge desktop.

                  - Gilboa
                  oVirt-HV1: Intel S2600C0, 2xE5-2658V2, 128GB, 8x2TB, 4x480GB SSD, GTX1080 (to-VM), Dell U3219Q, U2415, U2412M.
                  oVirt-HV2: Intel S2400GP2, 2xE5-2448L, 120GB, 8x2TB, 4x480GB SSD, GTX730 (to-VM).
                  oVirt-HV3: Gigabyte B85M-HD3, E3-1245V3, 32GB, 4x1TB, 2x480GB SSD, GTX980 (to-VM).
                  Devel-2: Asus H110M-K, i5-6500, 16GB, 3x1TB + 128GB-SSD, F33.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by brent View Post
                    Please, can't you let Xen die in peace? It's a horrible piece of software.
                    Well, I have good experiences with Xen and I find Xen simple to deploy and manage VMs and it's stable and efficient to use even Windows Server 2008 on top of SLES dom0. I miss that dom0 kernel it's not the part of Ubuntu Server anymore.

                    So if not Xen,... what (free) VM environment would you recommend?
                    And is it as easy as Xen to deploy and manage it?

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