Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • Virtualization

    LXD: The New Container Hypervisor for Virtualization Security

    Written by

    Sean Michael Kerner
    Published November 6, 2014
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      PARIS—At the OpenStack Summit here, one of the biggest announcements was LXD, a new secure container approach to building a hypervisor that was announced by Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, the lead commercial sponsor of Ubuntu Linux.

      In a video interview with eWEEK, Shuttleworth, explained that LXD is all about and why it is complementary to the Docker container effort that has become increasingly popular over the last year. What LXD provides is a secure system daemon to create LXC (Linux containers). The Docker effort in part, is built on top of LXC and Docker apps will now be able to run in an LXD environment as well.

      “LXC is the client, and LXD is the server,” Shuttleworth explained. “LXD can run on a whole bunch of nodes and allows you to use LXC to create containers on other machines.”

      Going a step further, with LXD, Shuttleworth is aiming to bridge the gap between a traditional virtualization hypervisor like Xen or Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) and containers. He explained that a hypervisor runs on a host system and it emulates another server that can then have its own kernel, operating system and application on top.

      With a traditional hypervisor, the environment can be secured by the server hardware that keeps a given virtual machine separate from other things running on a system. The overhead of a traditional hypervisor is that another system kernel needs to be emulated and another operating system is needed on top.

      In the container model, the deployment can be more optimized as a separate kernel and operating system are not required. Containers are faster than hypervisors from a performance perspective, because there is not the additional overhead of a separate kernel and operating system.

      The idea with LXD is that the same type of hardware security that is available to traditional hypervisors will be available for containers.

      “So you get the security of a VM that is hardware-enforced and you get the experience of a VM,” Shuttleworth said.

      The LXD technology is not competitive with what Docker is providing. As Docker founder Solomon Hykes explained to eWEEK in a recent video interview, the Docker story is about more than just containers. Docker is also about a new way to package and deliver applications.

      “You will run Docker containers inside of LXD,” Shuttleworth said.

      Dustin Kirkland, product manager at Canonical added that LXD offers the promise of increased application density on a given server in comparison with a traditional hypervisor.

      The LXD technology can run on any Linux operating system and though it is being developed by Ubuntu, it is not specific to Ubuntu. Kirkland noted that for the recent Ubuntu 14.10 release, there is now a technology preview of LXD running with OpenStack. The technology preview is contained in part within a driver called Nova Compute Flex that enables a cloud administrator to start up OpenStack Nova compute instances within Linux containers.

      Shuttleworth sees the LXD effort as the next natural step for the hypervisor and he wants to make the technology faster for everybody

      “You will literally on any Linux machine just start LXD, and then from anywhere you’ll be able to talk to that [service] and say give me containers,” Shuttleworth said.

      Watch the full video interview below:

      Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

      Sean Michael Kerner
      Sean Michael Kerner
      Sean Michael Kerner is an Internet consultant, strategist, and writer for several leading IT business web sites.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×