Technical Papers

Software and Hardware Techniques for x86 Virtualization

Publisher:
VMware

Latest Revision:
Jun 25, 2009

Download:
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/software_hardware_tech_x86_virt.pdf

Description

This information guide describes the x86 architecture from a virtualization point of view, relating critical architectural features to the major releases of VMware ESX. The goal is to provide, for each version of VMware ESX, an understanding of:

* Which CPU features are required
* Which CPU features can be utilized (but are not required)
* Which CPU features can be virtualized -- that is, made available to software running in the virtual machine

Much of the information in this guide also applies to VMware hosted products, such as VMware Workstation for Linux and Windows.

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