CIO

Linux kernel 2.6.32: virtualization, power management and more drivers

Virtualization performance and scaling improvements also being added
Tags | operating systems | linux kernel | Linux | linus torvalds | drivers

Less than a week after Linux kernel 2.6.31 was released, the kernel developers are beginning to submit changes and improvements across virtualization, power management, file systems and device driver code for the upcoming 2.6.32 version.

When releasing the 2.6.31 kernel, maintainer Linus Torvalds said the amount of device driver code has been steadily increasing since 2.6.27, but 2.6.32 will continue to aggressively add in bug fixes and performance enhancements across the entire code base.

The developers put in requests for Torvalds to merge code from their working repositories with “git pull” into the main source tree.

Already there are signs of key activity in the initial merge window for 2.6.32, including:

Virtualization

Red Hat’s Avi Kivity is committing quite a few changes to the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), the native Linux Virtualization hypervisor.

The KVM changes include better SMP performance, unrestricted guests on Intel, emulation code for cross-vendor migration, and a mechanism to connect user- and kernel-based components to guest virtual machines.

These KVM feature enhancements come along with “the usual fixes and performance and scaling improvements”, according to Kivity.

Kivity also announced that Marcelo Tosatti is now helping him as co-maintainer of the KVM hypervisor.

Power management

Linux’s power management system will also get a significant update come 2.6.32 because the run-time power management framework has been deemed functional, so subsystems can start using it right now, according to its developers.

A rework of the hibernation freeing of memory means the hackers are now almost ready to drop some older memory management code.

Drivers, drivers, drivers

Soon after the 2.6.31 release Greg Kroah-Hartman posted an update on his blog about the number of “staged” drivers that will be coming in 2.6.32.

The Linux staging tree is used to hold stand-alone drivers and file systems that are not ready to be merged into the main portion of the Linux kernel tree for technical reasons.

Staged drivers for 2.6.32 include the RT and wlan-ng wireless drivers, as well as Android drivers; however, these are at risk of being dropped.

“Android drivers have had a bit of work done, but upstream seems to not care at all about what is going on here, as they are working to forward port their code to the 2.6.29 kernel,” Kroah-Hartman wrote.

“If this keeps up, the drivers will be dropped in the 2.6.32 kernel release.”

Join CIO, the CIO Executive Council & IDC on 6 October at Australia’s premier Melbourne event for senior IT executives – the CIO Summit 2010. Find out more or register now.

More about: Intel, KVM, Linux, Microsoft, Oracle, Orion, Red Hat
References show all

Comments

1

Anonymous

Fri 05/02/2010 - 23:49

mobility over ipv6

Please, could you tell me if there is an existing patch for ipv6 mobility for Linux kernel 2.6.32 ? how do l get the mipv6 support on linux kernel 2.6.32 ? do l have to install something ? l am looking everywhere to find answers for this version specifically about mipv6 but no one till now has a real solution to this ... should l take an earlier version to be able to make scenarios for mobility over ipv6 ???? thank you

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
 
Featured Whitepapers

Wondering how to improve your business with UC on an IP Network?

Join Computerworld's Live Webinar where we will address the move many companies are making towards IP based voice services (SIP trunking, VoIP) and look at how they are using a single connection for data and voice rather than separate lines. Learn about the latest in IP networks and how it can help your organisation.

Wednesday 25th November 2009, Time 10.30 am EST (Sydney, Australia) Screening at your desk

Register now

  • +

    WikiLeaks founder Assange questioned by Swedish police 01 September, 2010 05:36:00

    Police and prosecutor are keeping mum on how the investigation is progressing
    WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has now been questioned by Swedish police regarding a molestation charge directed at him, his lawyer said Tuesday.
  • +

    uTorrent patches application against DLL vulnerability 30 August, 2010 04:31:00

    uTorrent is one of many applications that is affected by the vulnerability
    The developers of the uTorrent file-sharing application have released an updated version that fixes a problem that could allow an attacker to load malicious code onto a user's computer.
  • +

    Wikileaks' Assange to be questioned, says Swedish prosecutor 26 August, 2010 04:54:00

    The Wikileaks founder has been accused of molestation, though one charge has already been dropped
    Swedish Chief Prosecutor Eva Finné has ordered that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange be questioned about molestation allegations.
  • +

    Adobe fixes 20 vulnerabilities in Shockwave Player 26 August, 2010 03:55:00

    Most of the vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to run rogue code on a computer
    Adobe Systems patched 20 security vulnerabilities in its Shockwave Player on Tuesday. Most of the flaws could allow an attacker to run their own code on an affected computer.
  • +

    Sticks and stones: Picking on users AND security pros 26 August, 2010 02:08:00

    Name-calling is harmful to the cause of security
    I took my share of name-calling as a kid. I did my share of name-calling, too. We're taught that nothing good comes of such behavior. I've been thinking a lot about that since writing an article two weeks ago called "Security blunders 'dumber than dog snot'" during the 2010 USENIX Security Symposium.

Recent comments
Zones
SAS Resource Centre

This Resource Centre hosts a wealth of thought leadership articles, whitepapers, and success videos, to help you make the most out of your corporate information in order to swiftly make sound business decisions to survive and thrive in the current economic climate.

Oracle Resource Centre

News, Features and the latest whitepapers on SOA, Application Grid, Enterprise Management and Database

CIO Industry Insight Podcast #9: Tim Ayling, Chief Executive Officer, Platform46
Listen to the latest edition of CIO Live which is now available for download.
Listen to the podcast
Sign up to the CIO Live email
Whitepaper
Securing People and Information: How to Protect Against Today’s Web-based Threats

This white paper explores the benefits of an Application Delivery Network, highlighting the ability to protect your users and applications and still deliver outstanding application performance with confidence, consistency and cost-effectiveness across your distributed network.

Read Whitepaper

Brought to you by