What is Xvisor?
Xvisor® is an open-source type-1 hypervisor that provides a lightweight, monolithic, and flexible virtualization solution. It is engineered to perform at a high level while maintaining a minimal memory footprint across a variety of CPU architectures, such as ARMv5, ARMv6, ARMv7a, ARMv7a-ve, ARMv8a, x86_64, and RISC-V, among others. In a distinctive feature, it supports ARM processors that do not possess virtualization extensions, a rarity among ARM hypervisors. Additionally, it is recognized as the pioneering Type-1 hypervisor for RISC-V, highlighting its innovative capabilities. The design of Xvisor’s source code promotes portability, allowing it to be easily modified for most 32-bit or 64-bit architectures, given they come with a paged memory management unit (PMMU) and a compatible GNU C compiler (GCC). Focused primarily on full virtualization, Xvisor can seamlessly support a wide range of unmodified guest operating systems, while also offering paravirtualization as an optional feature that can be utilized in an architecture-independent way, such as through VirtIO PCI/MMIO devices. This level of adaptability positions Xvisor as an attractive option for developers aiming to deploy virtualization solutions across multiple platforms, ensuring versatility in various computing environments.