5 ms·

This seems to be quite similar to the other unikernel that was posted recently [1]. It would be useful to have an in-depth comparison of these (and other) unike

This seems to be quite similar to the other unikernel that was posted recently [1]. It would be useful to have an in-depth comparison of these (and other) unikernels, especially with regard to performance and compatibility. I can see that HermiTux has the ability to select only the syscalls needed by the embedded program, and to transform syscalls to function calls, which seems quite interesting. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25405672 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25405672

codetrotter 6y ago
> transform syscalls to function calls I thought that was kind of the point of a unikernel. Or am I mistaken? Does the other one from the other day not do that?
- michaelmior 6y ago
  That's certainly part of the point (and probably one of the main performance benefits). However, even if this doesn't happen, a unikernel still gives the advantage that it's much more difficult to run undesired code and is likely to improve security.
sitkack 6y ago
https://github.com/cloudius-systems/osv https://github.com/cloudius-systems/osv is an offshot of a project from ScyllaDB.
- hardwaresofton 6y ago
  Bit of a nitpick, but from what I understand they were making osv and pivoted to ScyllaDB, correct?
  - sitkack 6y ago
    I only know what the readme says. > OSv was originally designed and implemented by Cloudius Systems (now ScyllaDB) however currently it is being maintained and enhanced by a small community of volunteers.
    - hardwaresofton 6y ago
      Yeah that doesn't sound conclusive in either direction -- not clear if they made this on the way to ScyllaDB. I took another look just in case and found a source[0]: > After much research into the market and technology, in mid-2014 the team decided to pivot away from OSv (still a live project). Instead they decided to embrace the Cassandra architecture but rewrite it from scratch in native code with all of the know-how of years of kernel/hypervisor coding. This would become the Scylla database. [0]: https://www.scylladb.com/company/the-scylla-story/ https://www.scylladb.com/company/the-scylla-story/
      - PeterCorless 6y ago
        Correct. OSv came first, and then Seastar + Scylla.

codetrotter 6y ago

> transform syscalls to function calls I thought that was kind of the point of a unikernel. Or am I mistaken? Does the other one from the other day not do that?

michaelmior 6y ago
That's certainly part of the point (and probably one of the main performance benefits). However, even if this doesn't happen, a unikernel still gives the advantage that it's much more difficult to run undesired code and is likely to improve security.

sitkack 6y ago

https://github.com/cloudius-systems/osv https://github.com/cloudius-systems/osv is an offshot of a project from ScyllaDB.

hardwaresofton 6y ago
Bit of a nitpick, but from what I understand they were making osv and pivoted to ScyllaDB, correct?
- sitkack 6y ago
  I only know what the readme says. > OSv was originally designed and implemented by Cloudius Systems (now ScyllaDB) however currently it is being maintained and enhanced by a small community of volunteers.
  - hardwaresofton 6y ago
    Yeah that doesn't sound conclusive in either direction -- not clear if they made this on the way to ScyllaDB. I took another look just in case and found a source[0]: > After much research into the market and technology, in mid-2014 the team decided to pivot away from OSv (still a live project). Instead they decided to embrace the Cassandra architecture but rewrite it from scratch in native code with all of the know-how of years of kernel/hypervisor coding. This would become the Scylla database. [0]: https://www.scylladb.com/company/the-scylla-story/ https://www.scylladb.com/company/the-scylla-story/
    - PeterCorless 6y ago
      Correct. OSv came first, and then Seastar + Scylla.