research-article

Rethinking the library OS from the top down

Authors:

Donald E. Porter,

Silas Boyd-Wickizer,

Reuben Olinsky,

Galen C. HuntAuthors Info & Claims

ASPLOS XVI: Proceedings of the sixteenth international conference on Architectural support for programming languages and operating systems

Pages 291 - 304

https://doi.org/10.1145/1950365.1950399

Published: 05 March 2011 Publication History

Abstract

This paper revisits an old approach to operating system construc-tion, the library OS, in a new context. The idea of the library OS is that the personality of the OS on which an application depends runs in the address space of the application. A small, fixed set of abstractions connects the library OS to the host OS kernel, offering the promise of better system security and more rapid independent evolution of OS components.

We describe a working prototype of a Windows 7 library OS that runs the latest releases of major applications such as Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Internet Explorer. We demonstrate that desktop sharing across independent, securely isolated, library OS instances can be achieved through the pragmatic reuse of net-working protocols. Each instance has significantly lower overhead than a full VM bundled with an application: a typical application adds just 16MB of working set and 64MB of disk footprint. We contribute a new ABI below the library OS that enables application mobility. We also show that our library OS can address many of the current uses of hardware virtual machines at a fraction of the overheads. This paper describes the first working prototype of a full commercial OS redesigned as a library OS capable of running significant applications. Our experience shows that the long-promised benefits of the library OS approach better protection of system integrity and rapid system evolution are readily obtainable.

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Index Terms

Rethinking the library OS from the top down
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software creation and management
    1. Designing software
  2. Software organization and properties
    1. Contextual software domains
      1. Operating systems

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cover image ACM Conferences

ASPLOS XVI: Proceedings of the sixteenth international conference on Architectural support for programming languages and operating systems

March 2011

432 pages

ISBN:9781450302661

DOI:10.1145/1950365

General Chair:
Rajiv Gupta
University of California, Riverside
,
Program Chair:
Todd C. Mowry
Carnegie Mellon University

ACM SIGPLAN Notices Volume 46, Issue 3
ASPLOS '11
March 2011
407 pages
ISSN:0362-1340
EISSN:1558-1160
DOI:10.1145/1961296
Issue’s Table of Contents
ACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News Volume 39, Issue 1
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March 2011
407 pages
ISSN:0163-5964
DOI:10.1145/1961295
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Copyright © 2011 ACM.

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Published: 05 March 2011

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Lefeuvre HGain GBădoiu VDinca DSchiller VRaiciu CHuici FOlivier PTsafrir DMUSUVATHI MGupta RAbu-Ghazaleh N(2024)Loupe: Driving the Development of OS Compatibility LayersProceedings of the 29th ACM International Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems, Volume 110.1145/3617232.3624861(249-267)Online publication date: 27-Apr-2024
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