Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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.

6 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

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
    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.

      --
      Will program for karma.
  2. 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?

    --
    Help Brendan pay off his student loans
    1. Re:This makes me wonder... by bazorg · · Score: 5, Funny

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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

    --
    Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.