Xen users - Aug 2009 - Binding hidden PCI devices to a transferred DomU

Hi All.

***
I am not sure if this should be addressed to this mailing-list rather  
then the developer mailing-list but I hope
that any developer is watching what go on in this list.  I know cross  
posting is frond upon.
***

Using "S" for source machine and "D" for destination machine
classification. We can talk about S:DomU:2 (that is
machine "S" DomU number 2) - just to assist you understanding my  
questions.

Say I have 3 x DomU''s running on source machine "S". 
Additionally, I
have a several x DomU''s running on machine "D".
Assuming all Xen machines on the intranet are correctly configured for  
fall-over condition handling.
Again assuming that the hardware on both the "S" and "D"
machines
contain exactly the same plug-able h/w components,
that have been hidden correctly from Dom0 at boot time.

Let us assume for this discussion sake, that the PCI resources held on  
the "S" machine are labels namely
04:0.0, 05:0.1 and 06:0.0 (as found by "lspci" command).

Lets look at two cases:

Case 1 -
Where the PCI resource ID''s on both machines match. i.e.: resource PCI
03:0.0 on "S" =  PCI 03:0.0 on "D".
Hence binding each DomU specific resource - mapped correctly at re- 
execution time on "D" machine.

Case 2 -
On the "D" machine even though the exact same resources are in  
attendance they hold different resource indicators,
namely 03:0.0, 07:0.1 and 09:0.0 - which correspond one-to-one with  
the plug-able resources on the "S" machine above.
This could happen for example because the resources are on a different  
motherboard design which have different
implementations of both south and north bridges OR the south bridge IC  
itself is different to the "S" machines south bridge.

Now, at this time - automated DomU''s transfer is being initiated  
because S:Dom0 detects machine "S" is faulting;

I have read (and hopefully understand correctly) that S:DomU''s are  
automatically transferred, hence S:DomU''s are
"added" to D:DomU''s whereby they are simply rescheduled for
continued
execution.

Of course works fine both for para and full virtualised  
implementations when there is no h/w hidden from Dom0''s;


========= BUT what about the case where S:DomU direct resources are  
assigned unknowingly to S:Dom0 ========
A> What Xen mechanism is used to 1:1 map those DomU resources of
"S"
machine to those available on "D" machine?

B> What mechanism is used to ensure S:DomU and D:DomU resource states  
are the same before allowing execution
       to continue seeing that both S:Dom0 and D:Dom0 are totally  
unaware of the DomU''s resource allocations/usage ?

C> Assuming the current Xen implementation does not ensure DomU  
resources are maintained in state step,
       what mechanism (XenStore I suspect) is used to:

(1) Bring the transferred DomU''s specific PCI resources to a known  
state (preferably to the last known state on the "S"
       machine before transfer to the "D" machine)?

and ...

(2) If the DomU resource expects to continue from the last known  
state, what happens to the DomU when it
       cannot see the assigned resource in that required state?   Is  
there any interplay with the Dom0?

and ...

(3) is it up to the DomU to re-initiate the resource to a know state,  
possibly losing any data that could/should have been received?
Or is it planned to have some sort of DomIO state table where  
transfered DomU''s with such resources allocated and simple continue
execution because a copy of the DomIO state table is available to the  
D:DomU associated with such resources?

(4) Apart from DomU aware devices, what is in the Xen road map for  
handling such situations as set out above?


D> Would IOMMU table store on "S" and restore on "D"
machine assist in
a solution to the above dilemma?


Throw in the differences between fully virtualised and para- 
virtulaised implementations, what is proposed manner in handling such  
conditions / situations?

Any and all comments appreciated.
Thanks. Grahame



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