KVM back to Linux good shade Open source KVM for business?

Virtualization is the first step toward the cloud, and, similarly, open source virtualization is the first step toward an open source cloud. Cloud computing offers products and solutions that revolve around the new delivery and consumption patterns of IT resources. The diversity of the cloud, the private cloud, the public cloud and the hybrid cloud, no matter which cloud has three key characteristics: virtualization, standardization and automation. So, what's a KVM? Can it meet the needs of the enterprise to the cloud?

What's a KVM?

KVM (kernel-based Virtual Machine) originates from a company called Qumranet. In September 2008, the company was aggressively developing a KVM community after being acquired by Red Hat, with the aim of enhancing the underlying architecture capabilities and simplifying virtual machine management. KVM is an open source system virtualization module that requires hardware support such as Intel VT Technology or AMD V technology, which is hardware-based full virtualization.

KVM backed Linux to cool the shade

As you can see from the image above, the KVM is completely built into Linux open source hypervisor. It converts Linux into a virtual machine monitor. Therefore, KVM can use Linux to do a lot of things hypervisor can do, such as task scheduling, memory management and hardware device interaction.

In fact, since Linux 2.6.20, KVM has been integrated into various major distributions of Linux. It uses Linux's own scheduler for management, so its core source is very small relative to Xen. Red Hat 2011 Released Rhel 6, completely abandoned open source Xen, supporting KVM as hypervisor.

KVM focuses on becoming the best virtual machine monitor, creating a virtual function as a Linux processor that runs on Linux or Windows as a child operating system. In addition, I/O device emulation in virtual machines is provided by using another open source module, QEMU.

In recent years, with the popularity of x86 virtualization, KVM can be used to run on the x86 processor with virtualization extensions. So the virtual x86 processor is handy. KVM value is the ability to run Linux or Windows virtual machines, which are built in Linu and run Linux applications without any modification.

The origins of IBM and KVM

44 years ago, IBM implemented mainframe partitioning technology, or virtualization technology, to make better use of hardware. Hardware support is critical to the adoption of virtualization. As early as 1967, the IBM system/360 mainframe on the implementation of virtualization, customers can run multiple applications at the same time to improve hardware utilization. Over time, the technology has also come into VM with the development of IBM mainframes. New markets were also developed, and porting Linux to System Z,Z/VM would allow hundreds of Linux virtual machines to run on a single IBM host at the same time.

In the 90 's, IBM brought hypervisor into the power system, taking full advantage of the underlying hardware. Up to now, POWERVM can virtual AIX, I/Os, and Linux operating systems.

Let's go back to the early days of the x86 server, when Intel and AMD were not able to support virtualization technology in a friendly way. VMware uses dynamic memory translation technology, and Xen uses paravirtualization (semi-virtualization) technology to modify the operating system for virtual use. The turnaround occurred in 2005, when Intel and AMD added hardware support for virtualization, which opened the new era of x86 hypervisor.

Soon, KVM came out. It builds on Linux and transforms it into a mature hypervisor. KVM backed Linux good shade, rapid development and expansion.

The KVM has aroused the interest of the industry bosses. Red Hat and IBM are starting to invest in this open source rookie. 2007, KVM officially became part of Linux. In the same year, Red Hat acquired qumranet and its expert resources. 2009, IBM significantly increased the number of KVM project investment. Today, IBM has 60 programmers who specialize in the KVM Open source community.

The future of Open source KVM

More than four years ago, from the KVM built in Linux from the moment, it is destined to have an extraordinary way of development. KVM itself is the choice of Linux enterprise, plus it supports Windows platform, so it is also the best choice for heterogeneous environments.

In recent years, with the input of Red Hat, IBM and other vendors, KVM has become an enterprise-class hypervisor. The special thing about KVM is to convert Linux into a Type-1 hypervisor. So you can enjoy existing Linux kernel process scheduling, memory management, and device support without any changes. As Linux continues to evolve, KVM can also benefit from its results.

May 2011, IBM, Red Hat, Intel and other heavyweight manufacturers to form the Open Virtualization Alliance (OVA), to enhance the open source technology KVM awareness and adoption rate. November 2011, Red Hat, IBM, Intel and other manufacturers sponsored the establishment of the ovirt.org open source community, designed to develop open source KVM management and the establishment of ISV ecosystem. OVA from the market point of view of the United industry to start, Ovirt community from the technical joint development staff to escort the development of KVM.

Today's KVM provides a sophisticated Open-source virtualization platform that can be used directly for business purposes. The era of KVM has come.