Abstract
I/O Virtualization provides a convenient way of device sharing among guest domains in a virtualized platform (e.g. Xen). However, with the ever-increasing number and variety of devices, the current model of a centralized driver domain is in question. For example, any optimization in the centralized driver domain for a particular kind of device may not satisfy the conflicting needs of other devices and their usage patterns. This paper has tried to use IO Virtual Machines (IOVMs) as a solution to this problem, specifically to deliver scalable network performance on a multi-core platform. Xen 3 has been extended to support IOVMs for networking and then optimized for a minimal driver domain. Performance comparisons show that by moving the network stack into a separate domain, and optimizing that domain, better efficiency is achieved. Further experiments on different configurations show the flexibility of scheduling across IOVMs and guests to achieve better performance. For example, multiple single-core IOVMs have shown promise as a scalable solution to network virtualization.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abramson, D., Jackson, J., et al.: Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O. Intel Technology Journal 10(03) (2006)
Barham, P., et al.: Xen and the Art of Virtualization. In: Proceedings of the 19th ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles, pp. 164–177. ACM Press, New York (2003)
Borden, T., Hennessy, J.P., Rymarczyk, J.W.: Multiple operating systems on one processor complex. IBM Systems Journal 28, 104–123 (1989)
Bugnion, E., et al.: Disco: Running Commodity Operating Systems on Scalable Multiprocessors. ACM Transactions on Computer Systems 15(4) (1997)
Fraser, K., et al.: Safe Hardware Access with the Xen Virtual Machine Monitor. In: OASIS. Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on Operating System and Architectural Support for the on demand IT InfraStructure, Boston, MA (2004)
Kieffer, M.: Windows Virtualization Architecture, http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/8/f/98f3fe47-dfc3-4e74-92a3-088782200fe7/TWAR05013_WinHEC05.ppt
LeVasseur, J., et al.: Unmodified Device Driver Reuse and Improved System Dependability via Virtual Machines. In: OSDI (2004)
Liu, J., et al.: High Performance VMM-Bypass I/O in Virtual Machines. In: Proceedings of the USENIX Annual Technical Conference (2006)
McAuley, D., Neugebauer, R.: A case for Virtual Channel Processors. In: Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM, ACM Press, New York (2003)
Menon, A., et al.: Optimizing Network Virtualization in Xen. In: Proceedings of the USENIX 2006 Annual Technical Conference (2006)
Sugerman, J., et al.: Virtualizing I/O Devices on VMware Workstation’s Hosted Virtual Machine Monitor. In: Proceedings of the USENIX Annual Technical Conference (2001)
Wiegert, J., et al.: Challenges for Scalable Networking in a Virtualized Server. In: 16th International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks (2007)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Wei, J., Jackson, J.R., Wiegert, J.A. (2007). Towards Scalable and High Performance I/O Virtualization – A Case Study. In: Perrott, R., Chapman, B.M., Subhlok, J., de Mello, R.F., Yang, L.T. (eds) High Performance Computing and Communications. HPCC 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4782. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-75444-2_56
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-75444-2_56
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-75443-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-75444-2
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)