virtualization revision 1.2.12.1 
1$NetBSD: virtualization,v 1.2.12.1 2009/01/26 05:17:44 snj Exp $
2
3NetBSD Virtualization Roadmap
4=============================
5
6This is a small roadmap document, and deals with the virtualization
7side of the operating system.
8
9NetBSD 5.0 will ship with the following virtualization elements in
10place:
11
121. Xen 3 Dom0		[i386/amd64]
132. Xen 3 DomU		[i386/amd64]
143. Xen 3 PAE DomU	[i386]
15
16The following projects are expected to be included in NetBSD 6.0
17
184. NetBSD/usermode
195. virtualization jails via secmodel
206. iSCSI booting
217. iSCSI device cloning
228. Xen domU migration, suspend and resume
239. Xen balloon driver support
24
25The timescales for 6.0 are not known at the present time, but we would
26expect to branch 6.0 late in 2009, with a view to a 6.0 release in
27early 2010.
28
29We'll continue to update this roadmap as features and dates get firmed up.
30
31
32Some explanations
33=================
34
354. NetBSD/usermode
36------------------
37
38NetBSD/usermode is an port of NetBSD to a POSIX-compatible user-space, with
39the intention that it should be possible to run the usermode version of
40NetBSD on any POSIX-compatible operating system.
41
42Responsible: jmcneill
43
445. Virtualization Jails via secmodel
45------------------------------------
46
47One novel way of creating jails for virtualization is to use a new
48secmodel (part of the kauth framework), to isolate processes into
49jail-based virtual machines. This is the basis of a paper to appear
50in the AsiaBSDcon proceedings in March 2008.
51
52Responsible: bad
53
546. iSCSI booting
55----------------
56
57In order to make Xen domains migration-friendly, the storage that the
58domain uses must be based on some form of network-centric storage, either
59NFS, or a SAN or IP-SAN. For IP-SANs, iSCSI booting will be used.
60
61Responsible: agc
62
637. iSCSI device cloning
64-----------------------
65
66To minimise the storage requirements for multiple domU booting, using
67a standard root filesystem or block device for the domU is required, along
68with some form of copy-on-write mechanism to preserve any modifications
69that are made.
70
71Responsible: agc
72
738. Xen domU migration, suspend and resume
74-----------------------------------------
75
76Xen domU migration is where a domU domain is moved from one dom0 to
77another dom0 on the same vlan (to avoid networking problems, the
78virtual arp address migrates with the domU itself).
79
80Responsible: bouyer
81
829. Xen balloon driver support
83-----------------------------
84
85The balloon driver allows more memory to be added to a running Xen domU
86instance; this allows extra memory to be used by the domU for resource
87peak needs.
88
89Responsible: bouyer, cherry?
90
91
92Alistair Crooks
93Sun 25 Jan 2009 21:07:42 PST
94