[ANNOUNCE] NOVA Microhypervisor 0.1 prerelease

[Guanghui, Cheng]

Hello:
	I tried to compile the Nova in the AMD 64-bit platform and found some errors 
like this:
{standard input}: Assembler messages:
{standard input}:163: Error: no such instruction: `invept 16(%esp),%eax'
{standard input}: Assembler messages:
{standard input}:91: Error: no such instruction: `invvpid (%esp),%eax'
{standard input}:349: Error: no such instruction: `invvpid (%esp),%eax'
	I removed these codes and it could compile sussessfully. But i am not sure 
this behaviour is correct or not.
	I also ran the Nova-demo-cd in the AMD 64-bit platform and the nova could 
boot. And cycleburner could WORK well but VMM can't work because of this 
error:
	start_modules:
	create_pd = 5 (error number).
	That's all.
						Cheng Guanghui
	
On Wednesday 23 December 2009 23:04:12 Udo A. Steinberg wrote:
> Hi,
>
> The NOVA project is happy to announce that there is a prerelease of the
> NOVA microhypervisor available for download at http://www.hypervisor.org/
> or http://os.inf.tu-dresden.de/~us15/nova/ under the terms of the
> GNU Public License version 2.
>
> NOVA is based on a modern microhypervisor written in C++ and assembler.
> It currently supports x86-32 SMP platforms with hardware virtualization
> features, such as Intel VT-x or AMD-V, and facilitates running multiple
> unmodified guest operating systems in virtual machines with near-native
> performance. On machines without VT-x or AMD-V, the functionality is
> reduced to that of a microkernel.
>
> Like third-generation microkernels, the NOVA microhypervisor uses a
> capability-based authorization model and provides only basic mechanisms for
> spatial and temporal isolation, scheduling, communication and delegation of
> platform resources. Additional services are provided by an unprivileged
> multi-server user environment running on top of the microhypervisor.
>
> In NOVA, we implemented almost all of the virtualization functionality in a
> deprivileged user-level virtual-machine monitor. This design choice
> improves the overall security of the system, because exploitation of a bug
> in the platform virtualization code only compromises the VMM and leaves the
> remaining components unaffected.
>
> Cheers,
>
> 	- Udo