Vmware, Inc.

Mark Sheldon

Michael Banack

Salim S AbiEzzi

Jose Fonseca

Jeffrey W Sheldon

Alan Hourihane

Techniques for implementing secure GPU virtualization using sandboxing are provided. In one set of embodiments, a hypervisor of a host system can receive one or more first graphics/compute commands issued by a guest application running within a VM of the host system. The hypervisor can further communicate the one or more first graphics/compute commands to a sandboxed software process that is separate from the hypervisor. The sandboxed software process can then translate the one or more first graphics/compute commands into one or more second graphics/compute commands and issue the one or more second graphics/compute commands for execution on a physical GPU.

Secure graphics processing unit (GPU) virtualization using sandboxing

Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems receive a command from a program to render graphics data on a display device, transmit the command to a graphics processing unit (GPU), and transmit a readback request to the GPU. Upon receiving a response to the readback request from the GPU, the program is alerted that the command has been transmitted to the GPU. The response to the readback request is a pointer to a memory location at which the GPU has written rendered frame data representing the command. In response to receiving notification of a failure of the GPU, the rendered frame data written in response to the readback request and any additional commands to render the additional graphics requests received subsequent to the transmission of the readback request are transmitting to the GPU upon recovery from the failure, or to another GPU.

Graphics processing unit failure recovery

Techniques for dynamically using system (i.e., VM guest) memory as video memory for virtual graphics processing units (VGPUs) are provided. In one embodiment, a guest graphics driver running within a virtual machine (VM) of a host system can receive, from a guest application of the VM, a request to create a graphics resource. The guest graphics driver can then dynamically allocate, in response to the request, a memory object for the graphics resource in a guest memory space of the VM.

Dynamically using system memory as video memory for virtual graphics processing units

Methods, techniques, and systems for dynamically allocating graphics processing units among virtual machines are provided. Example embodiments provide a dynamic GPU allocation system ('DGAS'), which enables the efficient allocation of physical GPU resources to one or more virtual machines. In one embodiment, the DGAS comprises a GPU allocation list for use in allocating the physical GPU resources comprising one or more virtual machine entries each containing a designation of a virtual machine, an indication of a GPU benefit factor associated with the designated virtual machine, and an indication of processing bandwidth requirements associated with the designated virtual machine. The entries are ranked based at least upon the GPU benefit factor associated with each designated virtual machine. Available GPU resources are allocated to some subset of these ranked virtual machines as physical GPU capacity is matched with the requirements of the subset.

Managing a data structure for allocating graphics processing unit resources to virtual machines

Methods, techniques, and systems for dynamically allocating graphics processing units among virtual machines are provided. Example embodiments provide a dynamic GPU allocation system ('DGAS'), which enables the efficient allocation of physical GPU resources to one or more virtual machines. In one embodiment, the DGAS comprises virtualization logic running on a server computing system that computes GPU benefit factors for the virtual machines on a dynamic basis, and combines the computed GBFs with static priorities to determine a ranked ordering of virtual machines. The available GPU resources are then allocated to some subset of these ranked virtual machines as physical GPU capacity is matched with the requirements of the subset. Physical GPU resources are then allocated to the subset of virtual machines that have the highest promise of GPU utilization.

Growing community of inventors

Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Mark Sheldon