[Xen-users] Re: PPC virtualization

[Hollis Blanchard <hollisb@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Darius Lovehall wrote:
>         I'm wondering if PPC processors such as the 970FX/MP
>         offer hardware virtualization opportunities comparable
>         to what is described in the XenSource FAQs in
>         reference to Intelâs VT and AMDâs Pacifica processors.

Yes, those processors offer hardware virtualization features, but of
course they are different from VT/SVM.

>         Do these G5(?) PPC processors support hardware
>         virtualization at all in the VT/Pacifica sense, or
>         perhaps in the z/VM sense (Ok... that's probably just
>         wishful and silly but hopefully it conveys the scope
>         of the question)?

Nope, I have no idea what you're asking here. :)

>         Will I ever get to run OS X on "the bare metal" of my
>         Powermac QUAD with paravirtualised I/O complements of
>         Xen? 

Since Darwin is open source, in theory it would be possible to port it
to the Xen interface (remember that paravirtualization requires OS
modifications). Of course, especially given Apple's current level of
interest in PowerPC, I imagine it would be unlikely for such changes to
ever show up in an OS X release.

Running an OS "on the bare metal" implies no hypervisor at all, so your
question is confusing. I think what you're asking is about an unmodified
OS X...

It would be very difficult to run an unmodified PPC operating system,
given that the PowerPC virtualization extensions (designed for IBM's
PHYP enterprise hypervisor) pretty much require paravirtualization. You
can find more details on these in the architecture manuals (see the
links at the bottom of http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/Xen/PPC).

-- 
Hollis Blanchard
IBM Linux Technology Center


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