Re: [patch 20/20] XEN-paravirt: Add Xen virtual block device driver.

[Keir Fraser <Keir.Fraser@cl.cam.ac.uk>]

On 14/1/07 11:05 am, "Jan Engelhardt" <jengelh@linux01.gwdg.de> wrote:

>> The block device frontend driver allows the kernel to access block
>> devices exported exported by a virtual machine containing a physical
>> block device driver.
> 
> Is this significantly different from ubd/hostfs that it actually warrants a
> reinvention?

It is certainly unlike hostfs because hostfs provides file-level access to
host storage, not block-level. It's unlike both ubd and hostfs in that both
of those (I believe) make significant use of the syscall interface (and so
assume they run in a process on a Linux host). Also our driver appears to be
lower level, pushing more responsibility for features like CoW into the VMM.
Arguably that's a more generically reusable and flexible strategy although
it requires more VMM run-time support (which a Xen system provides).

>> + (void)xenbus_switch_state(info->xbdev, XenbusStateConnected);
> 
> Cast remove, if xenbus_switch_state does not have __must_check.
> Also elsewhere.

Okay, we should certainly follow the general rule here.

 Thanks,
 Keir


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