Self-migration of operating systems

Abstract

This paper is about on-the-fly migration of entire operating systems between physically different host computers. Resource allocation is often static; using migration allows applications to dynamically change bindings between programs and physical hosts as to improve utilisation. We first survey different approaches to migration and then present two prototypes that allow migration not only of an application but also of the operating system running the application. One of the prototypes includes a novel approach, self-migration, to operating system migration. Performance numbers show that migration can be done with merely subsecond suspension of the application.