EC2 Virtualization Options and the Move from PV to HVM
[Guest Post by Uri Wolloch, Co-Founder and CTO at N2Ws]
This article discusses the recent change that has taken place with AWS EC2 virtualization options. We will look into AWS’ virtualization backend and what it means for AWS users in general and N2WS, in particular. For a bit of background, up until recently, the AWS cloud supported a virtualization type called Hardware Virtual Machine (HVM) for Windows instances as well as ParaVirtualization (PV) for Linux instances. While these are both Xen technologies, they are slightly different. PV requires an added layer of software (i.e. kernel) between the designated hardware and virtual machines, and HVM runs directly on hardware and can make use of special hardware extensions.
The cloud has allowed modern, web-scale IT companies, like Airbnb and Netflix, to grow and flourish into booming enterprises all over the web. With its flexibility and efficiency, it supports the demand of an organization’s growth from zero to millions of users, allowing them to prepare for this potential growth, as well. Before the cloud, simulating millions of concurrent users and running scalability, stress, or stability tests was very hard to implement, if not impossible. Cloud technology has brought software testing, especially performance testing, to a whole new playing field.
Here at IOD (I am OnDemand), we spend a hefty amount of time sitting in front of the computer learning about the latest and greatest updates in the world of cloud computing and turning that knowledge into valuable content. It goes without saying that, along with the rest of the world of IT, we spend most of our days sitting for prolonged periods of time in postures that threaten our health and well being. Personally, as a registered yoga instructor (RYT 200), I find it extremely difficult to sit for long periods of time and always make sure to keep my blood pumping, joints happy and stress levels low, one way or another, when working on the computer. In respect to the wealth of knowledge out there regarding the dangers associated with prolonged sitting and the specific ailments linked to countless hours on the computer, I thought I’d share a few tips on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle as a computer geek.
