Running Xen: A Hands-On Guide to the Art of Virtualization

The Real-World, 100% Practical Guide to Xen Virtualization in Production Environments

Using free, open source Xen virtualization software, you can save money, gain new flexibility, improve utilization, and simplify everything from disaster recovery to software testing. Running Xen brings together all the knowledge you need to create and manage high-performance Xen virtual machines in any environment. Drawing on the unparalleled experience of a world-class Xen team, it covers everything from installation to administration-sharing field-tested insights, best practices, and case studies you can find nowhere else.

The authors begin with a primer on virtualization: its concepts, uses, and advantages. Next, they tour Xen’s capabilities, explore the Xen LiveCD, introduce the Xen hypervisor, and walk you through configuring your own hard-disk-based Xen installation. After you’re running, they guide you through each leading method for creating “guests” and migrating existing systems to run as Xen guests. Then they offer comprehensive coverage of managing and securing Xen guests, devices, networks, and distributed resources.

Whether you’re an administrator, data center manager, developer, system integrator, or ISP, Running Xen will help you achieve your goals with Xen—reliably, efficiently, with outstanding performance, and at a surprisingly low cost.

•  Understanding the Xen hypervisor: what it does, and how it works

•   Using pre-built system images, including compressed file systems

•  Managing domains with the xm console

• Populating and storing guest images

•  Planning, designing, and configuring networks in Xen

•   Utilizing Xen security: special purpose VMs, virtual network segments, remote access, firewalls, network monitors, sHype access control, Xen Security Modules (XSM), and more

•   Managing guest resources: memory, CPU, and I/O

•   Employing Xen in the enterprise: tools, products, and techniques