Chapter 1. The State of Virtualization
Xen is a virtualization tool, but what does this mean? In this chapter, we will explore some of the history of virtualization, and some of the reasons why people found, and continue to find, it useful. We will have a look in particular at the x86, or IA32, architecture, why it presents such a problem for virtualization, and some possible ways around these limitations from other virtualization systems and finally from Xen itself.
1.1. What Is Virtualization?
Virtualization is very similar conceptually to emulation. With emulation, a system pretends to be another system. With virtualization, a system pretends to be two or more of the same system.
Most modern operating systems contain a simplified system of ...
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