[ale] Fully functional desktop [Was: Greetings and introduction]

[Greg Freemyer]

> >
> > Does XP work with Xen?  I read an article(I think in Linux Journal)  about
> > it not supporting XP yet.  If it does then Xen really sounds like a
> > promising option.
> >
>
> Per the presentation last week Intel began shipping CPUs with the
> required VT support at some point in 2005 (Dec. 31??).
>
> Tech details at http://www.intel.com/technology/computing/vptech/
>
> AMD is supposed to have a solution of their own, but I don't know
> anything about it.
>
> I believe XEN already supports the new Intel VT technology, so if you
> can find a new PC with the new VT support the whole thing should work
> today.  Or at least that is the impression I came away with last week.
>
> It is not expected XEN will support XP on CPUs that don't have this
> new technology, so to get this you will have to spend some money on
> hardware.
>
> Greg

I'm still looking into this and I found a Intel Chip with VT support. 
The Pentium Extreme Edition.  I don't know if it is shipping or not,
but Intel has it listed as a normal cpu product.

http://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentiumXE/index.htm

My concern is this footnote:

? Intel(r) Virtualization Technology and Intel(r) Extended Memory 64
Technology (Intel(r) EM64T) require a computer system with a
processor, chipset, BIOS, enabling software and/or operating system,
device drivers and applications designed for these features.
Performance will vary depending on your configuration. Contact your
vendor for more information.

So, as expected, a MB with VT support is also required.

As to the question of if Xen supports VT yet, it apparently has since
the end of 2005.

See http://www.planetx64.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=49

Greg
--
Greg Freemyer
The Norcross Group
Forensics for the 21st Century