[BBLISA] How to Virtualize Sparc Solaris 8

[Dean Anderson]

Port Xen to sparc, and then get h/w virtualization working for sparc.

That (meaning hw virt) is probably easier for sparc than for x86, since
(I think) all sparc privileged instructions will trap when executed
unprivileged.  x86 is a braindamaged architecture (for more reasons than
one) but the key reason here is that some privileged instructions just
fail silently when executed by unprivileged programs. That's what the
new virtualization layer in the newer x86 hardware does--basically adds
a new privilege level to catch unprivileged execution of privileged
instructions.  Vmware reads the instruction stream and edits the
privileged instructions (really hard), and Xen has 2 approaches: The
first creates a special set of drivers that the host OS uses (meaning
you have to port the host OS to Xen. This approach is not too bad,
faster in someways, slower in others. The main drawback is you need
source to the host OS.  The second approach is to use the new h/w virt
support in newer processors. The main advantage is that you can run
binaries of OS that weren't specially prepared for running in virtual
environment. Like Solaris 8 or Windows 95.  The main disadvantage is
that you need to implement emulation of virtual hardware used by the
host OS. The virtual hardware is generally slower than the ring buffers
in the first approach.

Ok, that was more than you probably wanted to know.

I think there may already a project underway for sparc???  (But don't
hold your breath, either)

		--Dean

On Thu, 25 Feb 2010, Edward Ned Harvey wrote:

> Working at semiconductor companies, it seems to be a common request, that we
> need to obtain some sparc solaris 8 machine to run a memory compiler.  In
> the past, I've solved this by begging local IT depts for their garbage, and
> build one of these machines.  I'd very much like to improve this.
> 
> Does anybody know of any way to create a sparc solaris 8 machine modern day?
> Whether virtual or otherwise ... Preferably virtual.
> 
> Thanks. 
> 
> 

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