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A Dialogue on Virtual Machine Monitors
Student: So now we’re stuck in the Appendix, huh?
Professor: Yes, just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse.
Student: Well, what are we going to talk about?
Professor: An old topic that has been reborn: virtual machine monitors, also
known as hypervisors.
Student: Oh, like VMware? That’s cool; I’ve used that kind of software before.
Professor: Cool indeed. We’ll learn how VMMs add yet another layer of virtu-
alization into systems, this one beneath the OS itself! Crazy and amazing stuff,
really.
Student: Sounds neat. Why not include this in the earlier part of the book, then,
on virtualization? Shouldn’t it really go there?
Professor: That’s above our pay grade, I’m afraid. But my guess is this: there
is already a lot of material there. By moving this small aside on VMMs into
the appendix, a particular instructor can choose whether to include it or skip it.
But I do think it should be included, because if you can understand how VMMs
work, then you really understand virtualization quite well.
Student: Alright then, let’s get to work!
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