XenServer ArchitectureXenServer Architecture XenServer Architecture
Older virtualization technologies use a software level emulation of an entire physical hardware set. When an obtrusive hardware call i.e. HALT is issued to the processor, the software emulation is in place to intercept ande possibly redirect every individual hardware access. This not only takes a performance hit but also introduces latency in response between the user interacting with the system, the OS, the virtual hardware layer, the hypervisor, and the physical hardware. This software level emulation is generally inefficient.
XenServer along with the new breed of virtualization technologies uses a combination of paravirtualization adn hardware virtualization to achieve greater performance. XenServer, open source Xen, MicroSoft's Hyper-V, and other Xen based hypervisors such as Novell's Xen implementation use this new architecture to take advantage of the AMD-V and Intel-VT technologies.
Paravirtualization allows the virtual machine to understand that it is in a virtualized state on shared hardware and co-operates with the host to ensure best performance. XenSource pioneered this type of hardware interaction. The use of paravirtualized drivers allow for drastically improved performance over the legacy virtualized drivers. Microsoft is using this kind of vitualization technology in its Hyper-V product when they talk about an "enlightend" operating system. Linux adoption of the Xen platform as well as the XenSource Microsoft development agreement are indicators of the architectural superiority of paravirtualization over legacy emulation.
Hardware Virtualization or hardware assist AMD-V and Intel-VT technologies are the first of many hardware features that XenServer is capable of leveraging.
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