Re: [Xen-API] [Xen-devel] Prepping for GSOC 2014 [URGENT] - deadline Feb 14 2014

[Ian Campbell <Ian.Campbell@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 2014-01-28 at 13:54 +0000, Lars Kurth wrote:
> Hi all,
> I have not gotten any reply to this thread. I saw Wei Lui and AndrÃs 
> Lagar-Cavilla make changes to the project list. Please go through the 
> items below and make changes as suggested. Otherwise, our chances to get 
> into GSoC 2014 will be relatively slim.

Going through the list, people listed as technical contacts for projects
with GSoC == yes (or unknown) are in the To line. Please reiterate your
interest in mentoring the project(s) and update or remove the entry as
necessary.

I skipped things added recently and I skipped "Xen Cloud Platform (XCP)
and XAPI projects", someone else can pick that up.

And to reiterate what Lars said:

> Add new work items : we ought to have a few sexy topics on say 
> Real-time, mobile and some of the other segments (assuming we can get
> HW)
[...]
> b) Anyone who has some kernel/linux/bsd/distro/qemu work-items, should 
> get these listed on the respective other programs. And we should link 
> to these from our project page.

The list:

Pasi:
      * Implement Xen PVSCSI support in xl/libxl toolstack
      * Implement Xen PVUSB support in xl/libxl toolstack

        Both have unanswered questions posed by Lars in January 2013.
        
Konrad:
      * Block backend/frontend improvements

        I suspect a bunch of these are done? (Also CC Roger, who may
        have done them...)
        
        Was in the list twice, they looked identical so I nuked one.
        
      * Utilize Intel QuickPath on network and block path.

        No comments etc, but sounds advanced for a GSoC student, plus
        its unclear when such hardware became available, are they likely
        to have it? It sounds like it might also be quite high end.
        
      * perf working with Xen

        Done/in progress by Boris I think
        
      * PAT writecombine fixup

        Did I see a fix for this go past? GSoC == unknown?
        
      * Parallel xenwatch

        Bit sparse on details, GSOC == unknown

      * Microcode uploader implementation
        
        Done I think?

      * Integrating NUMA and Tmem
        
        Lists Dan as co-maintainer -- Konrad do you want to propose this
        to the new tmem guy (I've forgotten his name)
        
      * Performance tools overhaul

        Bit vague. And has some of this been done?

      * "Upstream bugs"

        There were 4 of these, dating back to 2012, I don't think this
        list is a good place to track bugs and it seems like at least
        some of them are now obsolete. So I've nuked the lot. If they
        are still relevant I think it would be best to get them into the
        bug tracker.
        
Ben:
      * dom0 kgdb support

        Is this for GSoC?

George:

      * Introducing PowerClamp-like driver for Xen

        I don't think this has been done?

Dario:
      * NUMA effects on inter-VM communication and on multi-VM workloads

        I think this was under way as part of the GNOME Outreach
        program. In that case perhaps it needs updating to reflect what
        has been done and what still needs to be done?
        
      * Integrating NUMA and Tmem

        Lists Dan as co-maintainer -- covered under Konrad's name above.
        
      * Is Xen ready for the Real-Time/Embedded World?
                
        Sounds a bit blue sky? Now that there is active interest in this
        on ARM perhaps a few concrete projects could be proposed to
        replace it?

Andy:

      * IOMMU control for SWIOTLB, to avoid dom0 copy of all >4K DMA
        allocations

        Sounds too hard for a GSoC to me. Would need fleshing out in any
        case.
        
      * CPU/RAM/PCI diagram tool

        Does this not already exist somewhere?
        
Paul:

      * HVM per-event-channel interrupts

        Might be easier now that Windows PV drivers are opened up?

Roger:
      * Refactor Linux hotplug scripts

        You did some of this I think?
        
Ian C:

      * XL to XCP VM motion

        Perhaps this could be broadened into VM transport between XL and
        other things too -- e.g. libvirt?

Stefano:

      * VM Snapshots

        Still a good project I think
        
George:

      * Allowing guests to boot with a passed-through GPU as the primary
        display

        This seems like a bit of a rathole for a GSoC student to me...
        
      * Advanced Scheduling Parameters
        
        Still to do?

Santosh:

      * KDD (Windows Debugger Stub) enhancements
        
Dave

      * Create a tiny VM for easy load testing

        Someone was looking at this I think?
        
Ian J:

      * Testing PV and HVM installs of Debian using debian-installer
      * Testing NetBSD

        BSD is done I think, and I'm looking at Debian Installer stuff
        myself. I've removed these.


Phew!
Ian.



> Lars
> 
> On 20/01/2014 09:18, Lars Kurth wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > the GSoC application deadline is coming up : Feb 2014. If we want to 
> > have any chance of getting accepted this year, we ought to get our 
> > project list into good shape. The project list and how the project and 
> > menters present themselves has a bigger impact on whether we get 
> > accepted than the actual application.
> >
> > Also, I would like to add a mentor section this year: a short bio, 
> > what the mentor cares about and a picture. This will help make the 
> > project list more real.
> >
> > We have *4 weeks* to do this. The bar for GSoC has been getting 
> > increasingly high. I know, we are tied down with Xen 4.4, but this is 
> > something you need to do if you want the Xen Project to participate.
> >
> > a) Please, update 
> > http://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Xen_Development_Projects urgently 
> > (these need to be in good shape *before* the application). What I need 
> > you to do is:
> > a.1) Remove items that are done
> > a.2) Add new work items : we ought to have a few sexy topics on say 
> > Real-time, mobile and some of the other segments (assuming we can get HW)
> > a.3) All project proposals need to be peer reviewed *and* clear ... 
> > The peer review process for projects we put in place last year worked 
> > well, by which we had past mentors sign of project proposals that were 
> > in good enough state.
> >
> > b) Anyone who has some kernel/linux/bsd/distro/qemu work-items, should 
> > get these listed on the respective other programs. And we should link 
> > to these from our project page.
> >
> > Best Regards
> > Lars
> > P.S.: I will also see whether we can participate as Xen Project under 
> > the LF GSoC program, but last year there was push-back and I don't 
> > expect this to change
> >
> 
> 
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