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> yes I know it runs Linux binaries unmodified Is it that it runs Linux binaries unmodified or that it runs vms and manages VMs which run Linux, and as an end-

by vvern 3y ago

> yes I know it runs Linux binaries unmodified Is it that it runs Linux binaries unmodified or that it runs vms and manages VMs which run Linux, and as an end-user, that's what you run your software in?

tonyarkles 3y ago
As far as I recall it's not a VM. They run in "LX Branded Zones" which does require a Linux userland so that the binaries can find their libraries etc but Zones are more like "better cgroups than cgroups, a decade earlier" than VMs.
- bcantrill 3y ago
  No, it's a VM, running a bhyve-based hypervisor, Propolis.[0] LX branded zones were/are great -- but for absolute fidelity one really needs VMs. [0] https://github.com/oxidecomputer/propolis https://github.com/oxidecomputer/propolis
  - bpye 3y ago
    Do you have a solution for running containers (Kubernetes, etc)? Are you spinning up a Linux VM to run the containers in there, doing VM per container, or something else?
    - panick21_ 3y ago
      Costumers can decide I would assume. Most likely you install you install some Kubernetes and then just have multible VMs distributed across the rack. And then run multible Pods in each node. VM per container seems like a waist unless you need that extra isolation.
      - bpye 3y ago
        I wondered if there was any support for running containers built in - something like EKS/AKS/GKE/Cloud Run/etc - but looking at the docs it appears not. I agree that VM per container can be wasteful - though something like Firecracker at least helps with start time.
        panick21_ 3y ago
        From the podcast it seems that they want to deliver a minimal viable product. Their primary costumers already have a lot of their own higher level stack. They might get into adding more higher level software eventually depending on what costumers want.
bcantrill 3y ago
It runs VMs -- so it doesn't just run Linux binaries unmodified, it runs Linux kernels unmodified (and, for that matter, Windows, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, etc.).

by vvern 3y ago

tonyarkles 3y ago

As far as I recall it's not a VM. They run in "LX Branded Zones" which does require a Linux userland so that the binaries can find their libraries etc but Zones are more like "better cgroups than cgroups, a decade earlier" than VMs.

bcantrill 3y ago
No, it's a VM, running a bhyve-based hypervisor, Propolis.[0] LX branded zones were/are great -- but for absolute fidelity one really needs VMs. [0] https://github.com/oxidecomputer/propolis https://github.com/oxidecomputer/propolis
- bpye 3y ago
  Do you have a solution for running containers (Kubernetes, etc)? Are you spinning up a Linux VM to run the containers in there, doing VM per container, or something else?
  - panick21_ 3y ago
    Costumers can decide I would assume. Most likely you install you install some Kubernetes and then just have multible VMs distributed across the rack. And then run multible Pods in each node. VM per container seems like a waist unless you need that extra isolation.
    - bpye 3y ago
      I wondered if there was any support for running containers built in - something like EKS/AKS/GKE/Cloud Run/etc - but looking at the docs it appears not. I agree that VM per container can be wasteful - though something like Firecracker at least helps with start time.
      - panick21_ 3y ago
        From the podcast it seems that they want to deliver a minimal viable product. Their primary costumers already have a lot of their own higher level stack. They might get into adding more higher level software eventually depending on what costumers want.

bcantrill 3y ago

It runs VMs -- so it doesn't just run Linux binaries unmodified, it runs Linux kernels unmodified (and, for that matter, Windows, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, etc.).