I saw the update to this project a while ago, and believe that this is
a valuable solution for one niche of virtualization. User-Mode
Linux is a good solution for virtualizing Linux on Linux.
Although it does not provide the “processor/hardware” level of
virtualization like a VMware, Virtual PC, or Qemu,
it is able to create the necessary “virtual-Linux” for those who only
require such a solution. This is an “operating system
virtualization” that addresses an important segment. Management
of the “virtual machines” is going to be a critical aspect.
As I continue to look at virtualization technologies, I believe they
are going to become more and more important to users of all
kinds. With the new generations of MULCOTH
processors – multi-core, multi-threaded (hyperthreaded) – we will begin
to easily have the horsepower required to emulate CPUs and hardware at
acceptable levels of performance. I recently read a two part
article by Nicholas Blachford that talkes about some future possibilities for CPUs and then future possibilities for operating systems.
I have to agree with many of the perspectives that he expresses.
We are on the verge of having more computing power than we can
imagine. Raw compute capabilities will begin to outpace the
ability of the human sensory system to keep up with it.
In all of this, it appears that having several “virtual operating
systems” or “virtual computers” running on my laptop at any one time is
going to be the natural progression. Instead of getting rid of
old computers, I’ll simply “virtualize” the data and operating system
that is on them and I’ll have them forever!
I’m just beginning to experiment with this … I have some old laptop
hard drives that I am pulling into Virtual PC with their “virtual disk
wizard”. I’ll now be able to boot and run them if I ever want to
look back. At some point in the future, I’m sure that I’ll be
running my current Windows XP and Fedore Core 1 and 2 on some other
virtualization platform on some new 10Ghz+ laptop. And it might
be in the next couple of years!
UMLazi 1.0.3.1. A management system for User-Mode-Linux-based virtual machines. [freshmeat.net]