January 2012 - microkernel-devroom

[Microkernel-devroom] Talk proposal: The agony of choice
by Stefan Kalkowski 17 Jan '12

17 Jan '12

Hi folks, I know I definitely missed the deadline, but I've heard you're still looking for another talk for the next-to-last slot? I would like to propose a 30-45min talk about the following topic: [title] The agony of choice - the diversity of microkernels in Genode [name] Stefan Kalkowski [abstract] One shiny aspect of the Genode OS framework is its diversity with respect to microkernels and hardware platforms it's running on top of. Although primarily of interest to clients and users, this property provides some hidden benefits to the system-developer itself. This talk is basically an experience report. It will give you an insight into the benefits and troubles of developing on a diverse biotope, the strength and weaknesses of the available platforms, how Genode gets ported to a kernel, and what is basically necessary from the kernel's perspective to drive Genode. The last point will be illustrated by introducing recent developments of a hybrid kernel/user API in Genode. [short bio] Stefan Kalkowski has been working with the Genode OS framework since it's first beginnings. His diploma thesis is based on the first version of it (at that time it was labeled 'Bastei'). Since then, he became a Genode-enthusiast. Before joining Genode Labs as an employee about two and a half years ago, he was working for two years at the Operating Systems Group of TU Dresden as a PhD student. [links] http://genode.org (project website) http://www.genode-labs.com (company website) [photo] -> see attachment [git repo] https://github.com/genodelabs/genode Regards Stefan -- Stefan Kalkowski Genode Labs http://www.genode-labs.com/ · http://genode.org/ Genode Labs GmbH · Amtsgericht Dresden · HRB 28424 · Sitz Dresden Geschäftsführer: Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske, Christian Helmuth

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[Microkernel-devroom] Looking for "panelists" for the "panel" discussion
by Jakub Jermar 12 Jan '12

12 Jan '12

Hi, I know we have not yet reached an agreement on the exact format of what I originally intended as a panel discussion in the devroom's schedule, but besides of this detail, it would be great to have 1-2 people from each participating project to volunteer as the panelist / speakers for the debate. This is mainly for the sake of putting some names on the official schedule to fill the role of speakers for the "panel" (mind the quotes). The target for the total number of speakers is ++7--, preferably 6 :-) If your project does not have a talk, this may be a good way to participate in the devroom. Remember that this is just an initial call for volunteers to participate in the "panel", whatever final form it will have. For the starters, I need to have some names from across the projects to figure on the schedule. Thanks, Jakub

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[Microkernel-devroom] Accepted talks and schedule of our devroom at FOSDEM 2012
by Jakub Jermar 10 Jan '12

10 Jan '12

Hi, here is a schedule for the Multiserver, microkernel-based operating systems devroom @ FOSDEM 2012: 9:00am – 9:25am Welcome! or Why do we meet here today (Jakub Jermář) 9:30am – 10:00am Introduction to the NOVA kernel API (Julian Stecklina) 10:10am – 10:55am Introduction of the Genode OS Framework (Norman Feske) 11:10am – 11:55am Introduction to HelenOS (Jakub Jermář) 11:55am – 12:55pm Lunch break 1:00pm – 2:00pm The microkernel overhead (Martin Děcký) 2:10pm – 2:55pm Reserve slot: First come, first assigned 3:05pm – 3:50pm Dive into HelenOS Device Drivers (Jiří Svoboda) 4:00pm – 5:00pm Panel discussion Finally, the schedule filled surprisingly quickly. For the sake of ballanced content, I decided to withdraw my own proposal, which would otherwise be a third talk dedicated to HelenOS. The reserve slot is basically meant for GNU Hurd or MINIX 3, whichever claims it first, or any other, not yet represented project. If the slot is not claimed, we can donate it to other types of content for which there is no time now. Note that the last item on the agenda is a panel discussion where we can discuss various topics among the projects. Note that the schedule may change to accommodate the current devroom needs. Any changes will be announced on this mailing list and on the FOSDEM web site, after the schedule is moved there. Jakub

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[Microkernel-devroom] Speakers can submit additional information
by Jakub Jermar 10 Jan '12

10 Jan '12

Hi, it turns out that our devroom's speakers can submit some additional information (quoting an email from devroom-managers): * what we need, for each speaker: * links to website, blog, tweetytweets, ... * a photo, not mandatory, but always nice * what we need, for each session: * relevant links to website, blog, git repo, ... Jakub

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[Microkernel-devroom] [TALK-PROPOSAL] The microkernel overhead
by Martin Decky 09 Jan '12

09 Jan '12

Hello folks, please see below my proposal for a talk at our devroom. It would be great to cooperate with anybody who is interested in this topic, because it is not HelenOS-specific. Just let me know. Regards M.D. [Title] The microkernel overhead [Full name] Martin Děcký [Short bio] Martin has been with the HelenOS team for more than 6 years now. A life-long operating systems enthusiast, he enjoys everything from bare metal programming and submitting Linux kernel patches to designing the most progressive microkernel and working on its formal verification as a researcher at Charles University in Prague. [Estimated duration] 60 - 90 min [Abstract] Since the famous Tanenbaum-Torvalds debate [1] the general public sticks to the golden rule of thumb: Microkernel systems, while nice and elegant, are just academic toys. Due to the infamous communication overhead and other self-imposed limitations, they are never going to be as useful for the general use (in terms of performance) as the good old monolithic systems. Since the 1990s many researchers (especially the people around L4) have struggled to lower the overhead using the most extraordinary tricks. Others have tried to apply the microkernel design to mission critical, safety critical and other niche targets, where the benefits of the microkernel design clearly outweights the drawbacks. And other folks spent years creating hybrid systems to get the best (and hopefully not the worst) of the both worlds. But are the drawbacks of the microkernels fundamental? The way computers are designed, the way programmers think and the way the IT economy works have changed profoundly over the last 20 years. We no longer try hard to save every single CPU cycle and every single byte of RAM in every single routine. We acknowledge that spending 20 % more on a faster CPU and more RAM to run inteligebly designed software is a better idea than spending 20 % more each year on maintaing software with tons of ugly performance hacks and quirks. Our machines are massively concurrent and we tend to (or are forced to) think more in terms of effective parallel algorithms than just plain sequential throughput. So perhaps it is time to reconsider the true impact of the microkernel overhead given the present conditions and requirements. Key topics: * Reasons for the microkernel overhead * Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the overhead * Ways to minimize it * Ways to live with it * Ways to embrace it [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum–Torvalds_debate

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[Microkernel-devroom] Talk proposal: Introduction to the NOVA kernel API
by Julian Stecklina 02 Jan '12

02 Jan '12

Hello, I know I missed the deadline, but I would like to propose a 30min talk about the NOVA kernel API. Title: Introduction to the NOVA kernel API Name: Julian Stecklina Abstract: The NOVA virtualization architecture is comprised of a microhypervisor and a capability-based multiserver userland with a specific focus on enabling secure and efficient virtualization using x86 hardware virtualization extensions (VT-x, VT-d, SR-IOV). It does so by moving almost all of the actual "virtualization" into a per-VM userspace component that is not in the Trusted Computing Base of other virtual machines. This talk will give an overview of NOVA's unique execution model and API with a strong focus on how this enables efficient execution of a VMM. Specifically, this talk will cover how tasks and threads are realized in NOVA, how communication between threads works, how VM exits are handled in NOVA and how this extends to SMP machines. Short bio: Julian Stecklina finished his Diplom (Master's thesis) in 2009 at the Operating Systems Group of TU Dresden, in which he implemented a Firewire-based remote kernel debugger for NOVA that can be quickly retargeted to other kernels. During this time he became acquainted with the two original NOVA authors (one was his thesis advisor) and afterwards started to work on improving network I/O virtualization in NOVA as a PhD student.

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