International Business Machines Corporation

Ryan A Harper

Anthony Nicholas Liguori

Michael D Day, Ii

John Michael Borkenhagen

A system includes a processor providing hardware virtualization, and a memory to store a first virtual machine data structure corresponding to a first nested virtualization level and a second virtual machine data structure corresponding to a second nested virtualization level. The virtual machine data structures assist management of the hardware virtualization provided by the processor. The system includes a first nested virtual machine located within the first nested virtualization level and a second nested virtual machine located within the second nested virtualization level. The system includes hypervisors to manage the nested virtual machines using the virtual machine data structures. A root hypervisor is to manage the first nested virtual machine using the first virtual machine data structure. A first nested virtualization level hypervisor is to run within the first nested virtual machine and is to manage the second nested virtual machine using the second virtual machine data structure.

Virtual machine data structures corresponding to nested virtualization levels

A virtualization architecture for improving the performance of nested virtualization in a computer system. A virtualization instruction reads or writes data in a control structure used by a virtual machine monitor (VMM) to maintain state on a virtual machine (VM) to support transitions between a root mode of operation of a CPU in which the VMM executes and a non-root mode of operation of the CPU in which the VM executes. A privileged data access is made to a primary control structure according to the virtualization instruction if the CPU is in the root mode. A non-privileged data access is made to a secondary control structure according to the virtualization instruction if the CPU is in the non-root mode and a secondary control structure field in the primary control structure is enabled.

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Austin, TX, United States of America

Ryan A Harper