Hi, I''ve been using Xen for quite a while, but always with Linux ParaVirtual domUs. Recently somebody asked me about Windows support as domU on Xen, and I always had this doubt, are all the PV drivers de same?, I know there are at least three, the ones from Citrix, the VMDP from Novell and GPLPV drivers Are all of them compatible with Xen 4?, all of them provide the same functions/performance?, what''s the general rule of thumb on this subject? Regards, -- Ciro Iriarte http://cyruspy.wordpress.com -- _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On 2/22/2011 10:39 PM, Ciro Iriarte wrote:> Hi, I''ve been using Xen for quite a while, but always with Linux > ParaVirtual domUs. Recently somebody asked me about Windows support as > domU on Xen, and I always had this doubt, are all the PV drivers de > same?, I know there are at least three, the ones from Citrix, the VMDP > from Novell and GPLPV drivers > > Are all of them compatible with Xen 4?, all of them provide the same > functions/performance?, what''s the general rule of thumb on this > subject?To my knowledge, Windows guests only run in HVM mode, not as paravirtualized guests. I have a Xen 4 environment (openSUSE dom0) where I run a combination of Linux and Windows guests. No issues with the Windows guests so far. -- Steve Sapovits steves06@comcast.net _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 7:55 PM, Steve Sapovits <steves06@comcast.net> wrote:> On 2/22/2011 10:39 PM, Ciro Iriarte wrote: >> Hi, I''ve been using Xen for quite a while, but always with Linux >> ParaVirtual domUs. Recently somebody asked me about Windows support as >> domU on Xen, and I always had this doubt, are all the PV drivers de >> same?, I know there are at least three, the ones from Citrix, the VMDP >> from Novell and GPLPV drivers >> >> Are all of them compatible with Xen 4?, all of them provide the same >> functions/performance?, what''s the general rule of thumb on this >> subject? > > To my knowledge, Windows guests only run in HVM mode, not as > paravirtualized guests. I have a Xen 4 environment (openSUSE > dom0) where I run a combination of Linux and Windows guests. > No issues with the Windows guests so far.Yes, Windows (and other non-Xen-aware OSes) must run in a hardware-assisted VM. However, once the OS is installed, you can add paravirt drivers for disk controller and network interfaces. These paravirt drivers will (at least in theory, YMMV) vastly out-perform the emulated drivers. Thus, you can get the best of both worlds: use any OS via HVM, but gain the benefits of paravirt I/O. -- Freddie Cash fjwcash@gmail.com _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 10:39 AM, Ciro Iriarte <cyruspy@gmail.com> wrote:> Hi, I''ve been using Xen for quite a while, but always with Linux > ParaVirtual domUs. Recently somebody asked me about Windows support as > domU on Xen, and I always had this doubt, are all the PV drivers de > same?, I know there are at least three, the ones from Citrix, the VMDP > from Novell and GPLPV drivers > > Are all of them compatible with Xen 4?, all of them provide the same > functions/performance?, what''s the general rule of thumb on this > subject?In the past, other drivers (at least Citrix and Redhat) is somewhat of a hassle to install. For example, you used to have to download the whole XCP/XenServer ISO, or have RHN subscription just to get the driver (haven''t checked again, might still true). Then there was functionality problem. Redhat''s driver used to say you can only use PV drivers for drives other than "C" (I haven''t check again in a long time whether it''s still true). Compared to that, GPLPV which is easy to download and install seems quite superior to me. Performance has been good. If you do decide to try them all, let us know which one you like best. -- Fajar _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
2011/2/23 Fajar A. Nugraha <list@fajar.net>:> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 10:39 AM, Ciro Iriarte <cyruspy@gmail.com> wrote: >> Hi, I''ve been using Xen for quite a while, but always with Linux >> ParaVirtual domUs. Recently somebody asked me about Windows support as >> domU on Xen, and I always had this doubt, are all the PV drivers de >> same?, I know there are at least three, the ones from Citrix, the VMDP >> from Novell and GPLPV drivers >> >> Are all of them compatible with Xen 4?, all of them provide the same >> functions/performance?, what''s the general rule of thumb on this >> subject? > > In the past, other drivers (at least Citrix and Redhat) is somewhat of > a hassle to install. For example, you used to have to download the > whole XCP/XenServer ISO, or have RHN subscription just to get the > driver (haven''t checked again, might still true). > > Then there was functionality problem. Redhat''s driver used to say you > can only use PV drivers for drives other than "C" (I haven''t check > again in a long time whether it''s still true). > > Compared to that, GPLPV which is easy to download and install seems > quite superior to me. Performance has been good. > > If you do decide to try them all, let us know which one you like best. > > -- > Fajar >Well, I''ve read that the Novell VMDP 1.7 has issues with live migration and on the other hand, GPLPV has a myriad of versions and variants available, an most of the time the latest_minus_arbitrary_number-THIS.WILL.BLOW.YOUR.DOMU version is the reported to work (for one particular version of the OS)... And haven''t heard anything about the live migration functionality... That''s why I''m asking here... Regards, -- Ciro Iriarte http://cyruspy.wordpress.com -- _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 11:36:20AM -0300, Ciro Iriarte wrote:> 2011/2/23 Fajar A. Nugraha <list@fajar.net>: > > On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 10:39 AM, Ciro Iriarte <cyruspy@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi, I''ve been using Xen for quite a while, but always with Linux > >> ParaVirtual domUs. Recently somebody asked me about Windows support as > >> domU on Xen, and I always had this doubt, are all the PV drivers de > >> same?, I know there are at least three, the ones from Citrix, the VMDP > >> from Novell and GPLPV drivers > >> > >> Are all of them compatible with Xen 4?, all of them provide the same > >> functions/performance?, what''s the general rule of thumb on this > >> subject? > > > > In the past, other drivers (at least Citrix and Redhat) is somewhat of > > a hassle to install. For example, you used to have to download the > > whole XCP/XenServer ISO, or have RHN subscription just to get the > > driver (haven''t checked again, might still true). > > > > Then there was functionality problem. Redhat''s driver used to say you > > can only use PV drivers for drives other than "C" (I haven''t check > > again in a long time whether it''s still true). > > > > Compared to that, GPLPV which is easy to download and install seems > > quite superior to me. Performance has been good. > > > > If you do decide to try them all, let us know which one you like best. > > > > -- > > Fajar > > > > Well, I''ve read that the Novell VMDP 1.7 has issues with live > migration and on the other hand, GPLPV has a myriad of versions and > variants available, an most of the time the > latest_minus_arbitrary_number-THIS.WILL.BLOW.YOUR.DOMU version is the > reported to work (for one particular version of the OS)... And haven''t > heard anything about the live migration functionality... That''s why > I''m asking here... >During last couple of weeks many live migration related bugfixes went into GPLPV drivers, so it might just work now. -- Pasi _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
2011/4/7 Pasi Kärkkäinen <pasik@iki.fi>:> > Yes, see: http://xenbits.xen.org/ext/win-pvdrivers/ > > -- Pasi > >Interesting.. Do you know were can we find newest builds? Regards, -- Ciro Iriarte http://cyruspy.wordpress.com -- _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
2011/4/7 Ciro Iriarte <cyruspy@gmail.com>:> 2011/4/7 Pasi Kärkkäinen <pasik@iki.fi>: >> >> Yes, see: http://xenbits.xen.org/ext/win-pvdrivers/ >> >> -- Pasi >> >> > > Interesting.. Do you know were can we find newest builds? > > Regards, > > -- > Ciro Iriarte > http://cyruspy.wordpress.com > -- >According to the wiki, it''s not that hard to build them. I''ll give it a try.. Regards, -- Ciro Iriarte http://cyruspy.wordpress.com -- _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Thu, Apr 07, 2011 at 10:04:29PM -0400, Ciro Iriarte wrote:> 2011/4/7 Ciro Iriarte <cyruspy@gmail.com>: > > 2011/4/7 Pasi Kärkkäinen <pasik@iki.fi>: > >> > >> Yes, see: http://xenbits.xen.org/ext/win-pvdrivers/ > >> > >> -- Pasi > >> > >> > > > > Interesting.. Do you know were can we find newest builds? > > > > Regards, > > > > -- > > Ciro Iriarte > > http://cyruspy.wordpress.com > > -- > > > > According to the wiki, it''s not that hard to build them. I''ll give it a try.. >Note that the gplpv wiki page is (or at least has been) pretty out-of-date, so if it doesn''t work based on the instructions there you might want to search xen-users or xen-devel archives.. the build instructions have been discussed on many threads. Also once you get them to build, please post updated instructions and update the gplpv wiki page! That would be really good. Thanks, -- Pasi _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users