Re: [Xen-users] VMWare vs. Xen, is the conflict by VMware deliberate?

[Nico Kadel-Garcia <nkadel@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sadique Puthen wrote:
> Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote:
> > I've been trying to virtualize SCO OpenServer 5.0.6 for various 
> > reasons, and found that the Xensource 4.x doesn't support it, nor 
> > does the open source Xen 3.x in any of the environments I've tried. 
> > It works on VMware, but for various reasons I prefer to use Xen on my 
> > Dom0. (I like open source, and the base OS for the commercial reasons 
> > is much, much more recent, and I suspect the Xen Dom0 performance for 
> > managing backup systems is superior.)
> > So, I tried running VMWare Workstation on top of a Xen enabled Dom0. 
> > And VMWare promptly started up with a "You're running a Xen 
> > Hypervisor! Bad sys-geek, no biscuit! We're taking our start-up tool 
> > and going home, p-b-b-b-b-b-b-t-h!"
> > Is this a well-founded refusal to start on their part, perhaps due to 
> > kernel behavior conflicts? Or is this an anti-competitive move,
> VMware requires that your host kernel be run in ring 0 (to do cpu 
> scheduling, memory management and provide timer interrupts) where as 
> in xen architecture hypervisor has taken ring 0 and deprivileged the 
> guest kernel (dom0 kernel) to other rings. So running VMware on dom0 
> doesn't allow it to virtualize cpu, memory. My 2 cents
> --Sadique
Ahh. Thank you! That was clear.

Hmm. Does a Xen DomU look to the unsespecting local environment like a 
ring 0 kernel, especially in full virtualization rather than 
para-virtualization? It would be contorted, but would allow me to keep 
my Dom0 as a Xen host, at a serious but potentially acceptable 
performance loss.
> > to avoid being able to run VMware Workstation on Xen Dom0's and force 
> > people to select VMWare only? I've not taken apart the kernel modules 
> > well enough to tell, but I hate to have to dedicate entire servers to 
> > VMware: it can absorb the resources I'd otherwise use to provide Xen.
> >
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