Extending Xen* with Intel Virtualization Technology

Xen* is an open source virtual machine monitor (VMM) developed at the University of Cambridge to support operating systems (OSs) that have been modified to run on top of the monitor. Intel has extended the Xen VMM to use Intel ® Virtualization Technology ∆ (VT) to support unmodified guest OSs also. This was done for IA-32 Intel ® Architecture processors as well as Itanium ® architecture processors. In this paper we describe the changes that have been made to Xen to enable this support. We also highlight the optimizations that have been made to date to deliver good virtualized performance.