The Cost of Virtualization: Software developers need to be aware of the compromises they face when using virtualization technology.

Abstract

Virtualization can be implemented in many different ways. It can be done with and without hardware support. The virtualized operating system can be expected to be changed in preparation for virtualization, or it can be expected to work unchanged. Regardless, software developers must strive to meet the three goals of virtualization spelled out by Gerald Popek and Robert Goldberg: fidelity, performance, and safety.

References

1. Popek, G. J., Goldberg, R. P. 1974. Formal requirements for virtualizable third-generation architectures. Communications of the ACM 17(7): 412.
2. Drepper, U. 2007. What every programmer should know about memory; http://people.redhat.com/drepper/cpumemory.pdf.

Index Terms

• General and reference

  • Cross-computing tools and techniques

    • Performance

• Software and its engineering

  • Software organization and properties

    • Contextual software domains

      • Operating systems

        • Memory management

          • Virtual memory

    • Extra-functional properties

      • Software performance