hypervisor
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NC State researchers team with IBM to keep cloud-stored data away from prying eyes
The man on your left is Dr. Peng Ning -- a computer science professor at NC State whose team, along with researchers from IBM, has developed an experimental new method for safely securing cloud-stored data. Their approach, known as a "Strongly Isolated Computing Environment" (SICE), would essentially allow engineers to isolate, store and process sensitive information away from a computing system's hypervisors -- programs that allow networked operating systems to operate independently of one another, but are also vulnerable to hackers. With the Trusted Computing Base (TCB) as its software foundation, Ping's technique also allows programmers to devote specific CPU cores to handling sensitive data, thereby freeing up the other cores to execute normal functions. And, because TCB consists of just 300 lines of code, it leaves a smaller "surface" for cybercriminals to attack. When put to the test, the SICE architecture used only three percent of overhead performance for workloads that didn't require direct network access -- an amount that Ping describes as a "fairly modest price to pay for the enhanced security." He acknowledges, however, that he and his team still need to find a way to speed up processes for workloads that do depend on network access, and it remains to be seen whether or not their technique will make it to the mainstream anytime soon. For now, though, you can float past the break for more details in the full PR.
Windows 8 will deliver Hyper-V virtualization tech to all, power users rejoice
Hear this nerds? Windows 8 will ship with Hyper-V virtualization software integrated into the OS. Until now Hyper-V was limited to Microsoft's server products, but now consumers (whether they care or not) will be able to fire up virtual machines without the need to download VirtualBox or some other VM software suite. Now, the average person probably won't care too much, but power users will be thrilled. And, if virtualization can be integrated seamlessly to enhance security (through sandboxing) and compatibility with legacy apps (say, via an included XP license), it could be a huge boon to casual users -- even if they don't realize it's there. For more details about Hyper-V from the Windows 8 devs, including a nice demo video, check out the source link.
Parallels gets down to bare metal with new server software
Parallels has announced a new version of Parallels Server for Mac called the Mac Bare Metal Edition. It's optimized to provide better performance for virtual machines running on an Xserve, and allows multiple, isolated virtual machines to run simultaneously on the same server. Using "hypervisor" server virtualization, system administrators can run, say, Snow Leopard Server, Windows 7 and Linux all at once. In case you're curious, a hypervisor is a virtual machine monitor which directly controls the hardware ("bare metal") of the host machine without using device drivers from another operating system. At least, that's how I understand it. A new utility, Parallels Virtual Automation, also provides an extended set of tools for managing, monitoring and maintaining virtual machines. This is the first "bare metal" hypervisor for Intel-powered Apple machines, and it sounds pretty cool. I'm not in a position to try this out, but I'd welcome feedback from readers who get their hands on a copy and put it to the test. Single licenses of Parallels Server for Mac Bare Metal Edition are priced at US$1,248.75, and there's a trial download available.
Parallels webcast today launches Virtuozzo Containers server
Despite the publicity around Parallels' flagship Mac product, Parallels Desktop (which we've contributed to in some small part), there are some other interesting tools in the stable of Parallels' parent company, SWsoft -- which is now being rebranded as Parallels, Inc. just to keep us on our toes. One of those products is Parallels Virtuozzo Containers (PVC), which launches version 4.0 today in a webcast event at 11 am (Eastern). While PVC is not a Mac-compatible server (yet), the technology choices Parallels made in developing it may illuminate some future paths for the yet-unreleased Parallels Server product for Mac OS X. Virtualization products like Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, and Microsoft's Virtual Server work via a hypervisor model, virtualizing the hardware platform so that each virtual machine runs in its own full-OS environment. This approach does a great job of insulating the VMs from the underlying physical hardware and provides for OS and build diversity (Windows, Linux and eventually Mac OS X Server running on the same virtualization platform) but it has some drawbacks: each virtual machine consumes a full helping of RAM, disk space and CPU resources while running, as though it was a physical machine. VMware in particular is respected for its expertise in optimizing these resource demands with its ESX enterprise-level server products, but the baseline requirements for system resources can't be fully alleviated. PVC does OS virtualization, which tackles the problem of resource allocation for virtual machines in a different way. Virtuozzo VMs, or "containers," are created as overlays on the base OS that runs on the physical server, like a piece of transparent acetate over an animation backdrop. All the basic OS processes, files and libraries are present in the base server OS instance, and the container holds the differential changes that allow the VMs their individual characteristics and configurations. While you sacrifice one big feature of hypervisor systems, the ability to diversify OSes -- since the base OS is fixed as either Windows or Linux, all the containers have to be built on top of that OS -- what you gain is substantial, as each additional running VM takes only a small chunk of RAM and a comparatively tiny swath of hard drive space to work in. Virtuozzo servers can handle high VM loading on relatively modest hardware without taking major performance hits, which is a big plus if your server budget is constrained. In the OS X virtualization session at Macworld Expo, the Parallels folks suggested that we may see both hypervisor and OS virtualization approaches integrated in the Parallels Server product, as the engineering teams from PVC and Server have the opportunity to put their heads together. Parallels has also said that the management tools for PVC and Parallels Server will be integrated as development moves forward. Even though PVC doesn't support the Mac directly, if you're interested in virtualization you might pop into the webcast and check it out.
Xbox 360 hack changes DVD key, game region
A clever gent who goes by the name SeventhSon (we hope in reference to the totally ripping Iron Maiden record Seventh Son of a Seventh Son) has discovered a method to alter both the DVD key and game region code on Microsoft's Xbox 360, at least for the Hypervisor exploitable 4532 and 4548 kernels. If you're not sure what that all means don't feel bad, part of this hack involves desoldering your Xbox flash chip -- something most of us aren't getting around to anytime soon. However, for the tenacious and technologically handy, this opens up all kinds of diabolical possibilities like, um... playing UK games on your US Xbox.Update: In addition to clarifying the debate over his name origins, SeventhSon has posted this update to the comments below: Another clarification. This hack will work on all kernels, not just the HV exploitable ones. As long as you obtain the cpu-key before you upgrade past version 4548. This way you can run the latest kernel and still modify your game region code.[Thanks, XanTium]
