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Virtualized Linux Faster Than Native?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the too-specialized-to-count dept.

^switch writes "Aussies at NICTA have developed a para-virtualized Linux called Wombat that they claim outperforms native Linux. From the article: 'The L4 Microkernel works with its own open source operating system Iguana, which is specifically designed as a base for use in embedded systems.'" Specific performance results are also available from the NICTA website.

12 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. Curious warning on the website by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    Warning

    Running a virtual Iguana OS from within a virtualised Linux environment is dangerous.
    ETROS and NICTA will not be held responsible for any resulting time paradoxes.


    hmmmm

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    1. Re:Curious warning on the website by Rorian · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well thats the answer to the better-than-native performance then. It simply creates a hole in the space-time continuum, off-loads all processing work to the infinite monkies with infinite abacuses, and reports 0.0 cpu load to the benchmark program.

      Obvious really.

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  2. Bad Second Link by Ctrl+Alt+De1337 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ignore the second link. The actual performance results are here.

  3. This makes me wonder... by DaHat · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just how fast would a virtualized Linux instance running inside of a virtualized Linux instance running on hardware be?

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    1. Re:This makes me wonder... by bazorg · · Score: 5, Funny

      Do you think that's air you're breathing now?

    2. Re:This makes me wonder... by Hitch · · Score: 4, Funny

      so...it's actually *penguins* all the way down?

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  4. ARM v4 or v5 processors only by XoXus · · Score: 5, Informative

    The summary is misleading a bit - it's only faster on ARM v4 or v5 processors.

    From TFA:

    Wombat, NICTA's architecture-independent para-virtualised Linux for L4-embedded, can be faster than native Linux on the same hardware. Specifically on popular ARM v4 or v5 processors, such as ARM9 cores or the XScale, Wombat benefits from the fast address-space switch (FASS) technology implemented in L4-embedded, while this is not supported in native Linux distributions.

  5. Hm by FidelCatsro · · Score: 4, Informative

    Could it be because linux for ARM is not that well optimised . I can't imagine such massive performance gains otherwise , bar a massive bug in the kernel.

    Fast Address-Space Switching for ARM Linux Kernels

    The Fast Address-Space Switching (FASS) project aims to utilise some of the features of the Memory Management Unit in the ARM architecture to improve the performance of context switches under the L4 kernel and ARM Linux.

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  6. Only? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm not sure if you realize the market penetration of ARM-based processors. They're basically everywhere. One popular use is in routers. Many printers also have ARM chips. They're also very widely used in cell phones and other mobile technology.

    It benefits us all of more performance can be extracted from such chips, just because they're so widely used. Being able to get a greater degree of performance out of a device already in use can lead to lower-cost systems. To suggest that this is of limited use is naive, just because of how prevalent these processors are.

    1. Re:Only? by JanneM · · Score: 5, Informative

      It benefits us all of more performance can be extracted from such chips, just because they're so widely used.

      The reaction is not against the performance but the disingenious presentation. A cursory reading makes it seem as if the performance gain was somehow tied to it being a microkernel, or that the virtualization step somehow magically speeded things up. It wasn't - their kernel is using some platform specific optimizations that Linux doesn't, that's all.

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  7. KLAATU... VERATA... by dsginter · · Score: 4, Funny

    NICTA... necktie...

    Definitely an n-word.

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  8. As somebody familiar with the project by agent+dero · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've been researching more and more into NICTA's microkernel and virtualization (for my L4::BSD idea) and one thing that is important to understand is that NICTA's development is mainly on ARM, the Kenge toolset, as well as the Iguana OS are both much further along on ARM as opposed to i386

    Considering the work that NICTA does with companies that produce embedded hardware like Qualcomm, this isn't surprising, but don't go crazy about this.

    Linux development is much more fine tuned on x86, and Kenge/Iguana development is much more fine tuned on ARM; no need to start holy wars here ;)

    That said, nice work benno, chuck, and gernot (and whomever else I'm forgetting)

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