Definition
Paravirtualization is a virtualization technique in which the virtualized operating system communicates directly with the hypervisor using API calls. This reduces the overheads associated with traditional full virtualization, improving performance.
Examples of Paravirtualization
- Xen gained popularity due to its paravirtualization method, though it also supports full virtualization. Xen requires modification to the OS being virtualized to run on its hypervisor.
- The VMware paravirtual SCSI controller enhances I/O performance by optimizing communication between the virtual machine and the hypervisor, outperforming fully virtualized SCSI controllers.
- Some virtualization platforms use paravirtualized network drivers to improve network I/O performance.
- VirtIO is a paravirtualized framework that offers a standardized I/O virtualization interface. It is primarily used with the kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) hypervisor.
Paravirtualization Applications
- Cloud environments: Some cloud service providers use paravirtualization to manage customer VMs on shared physical servers.