
McKernel – A lightweight multi-kernel OS for high-performance computing - rbanffy
https://www-sys-aics.riken.jp/ResearchTopics/os/mckernel/
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qwerty456127
> On the other hand, a new class of more dynamic and complex applications are
> also on the horizon, with an increasing demand for application constructs
> such as in-situ analysis, workflows, elaborate monitoring and performance
> tools. This complexity relies not only on rich features of POSIX, but also
> on the Linux APIs (such as the /proc, /sys filesystems, etc.) in particular.

If I were to design a new class of a thing to manage complexity efficiently
today I would rather choose to rely on something Plan9-like or entirely new
rather than the legacy "rich features of POSIX".

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gnufx
But you don't get the choice, given the applications. It's not clear to me how
Plan9 would help with relevant problems; it was tried on Blue Gene at one
stage. If I got the choice of something different, it would likely be
capability-, microkernel-based, which might actually help with the jitter
problem.

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bgeerofi
there is an L4 based effort for HPC at TU Dresden called FFMK. the reality is
that for HPC you still need high-performance implementation of fast-path
system calls (e.g., memory and process management) and the traditional micro-
kernel architecture is not suitable for that. as for POSIX, you don't have a
choice, people who write apps are used to POSIX and Linux.

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bgeerofi
Hi, I'm another person involved with McKernel from early on. The name actually
originates from Many-core Kernel (intended for many-core CPUs). In addition, a
clarification regarding standalone LWKs, mainly two reasons why they "failed":
1.) incompatibility with POSIX/Linux, 2.) lack of device drivers and thus
their lack of applicability to different platforms. IBM's CNK (still running
on the BG/Q) is a prime example. Plenty of POSIX calls are not supported and
it only runs on IBM's hardware. The multi-kernel approach solves these issues
by providing basically full Linux compatibility through service offloading and
easy deployment thanks to direct reuse of Linux device drivers.

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asmadeus
Site looks down right now, alternative link without css (looks bad, but better
than nothing until news link comes back up):

[https://www.sys.r-ccs.riken.jp/ResearchTopics/os/mckernel/](https://www.sys.r-ccs.riken.jp/ResearchTopics/os/mckernel/)

Also, not mentionned there but the code is on github:

[https://github.com/RIKEN-SysSoft/mckernel](https://github.com/RIKEN-
SysSoft/mckernel)

[https://github.com/RIKEN-SysSoft/ihk](https://github.com/RIKEN-SysSoft/ihk)

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pferde
I'm more curious about this Interface for Heterogeneous Kernels (IHK) that
makes running Linux next to McKernel possible.

It sounds like something like virtual partitions (vPars) from old HP
Superdomes, which were pretty neat.

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asmadeus
It's basically a few kernel modules and utilities that help with memory/cpu
management (take cores offlines, reserve memory etc) and provide message
passing from linux to whatever you want to run on the other codes with a queue
messaging system (ikc) -- it's used by mckernel but should theorically work
with anything else, would love to know if anyone else uses it (disclaimer: I'm
working on ihk/mckernel this year)

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batbomb
I would think there's likely to be some security implications with this that
aren't acceptable at a lot of HPC centers (at least in the US)

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wmf
Can you be more specific? If previous LWK approaches were OK, what is
different about this?

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asmadeus
I think the LWK concept itself is ok, but implementation-wise there need to be
some auditing done. This is in a phase going from mostly being a research
project to getting some attention and setup for production use on some HPC
sites so I'm sure that'll get done in due time.

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jugg1es
Does anyone ever build something and then advertise it as heavyweight?

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Nomentatus
Yes. Very often. They usually use such synonyms as "capable" or
"sophisticated."

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hydrox24
You will also see words like "feature-rich", or "all-in-one solution".

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rjplatte
Wouldn't popcorn be a better name?

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nine_k
"McKernel" is great, it both somehow refers to the architecture, to the fact
that it's a kernel, and is unique and googleable.

"Popcorn" is generic and makes it hard to search for the project, and easy to
clash with another project of the same name.

I wish people invented good unique name for projects, instead of trying to
make a (b)ackronym or a subtle reference using a generic word.

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_underflow_
This does kinda sound like something off the Dollar Menu, though.

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bfung
Only to the American audience. Doubtful that it evokes the same association in
Japan (www-sys-aics.riken.jp).

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craftyguy
McDonald's is in Japan.

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pvg
They'd have called it the Kernel Royale.

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bfung
Kernel Royale doesn't sound cheap to me, in fact, sounds regal =P

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pvg
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pkq_eBHXJ4&feature=youtu.be...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pkq_eBHXJ4&feature=youtu.be&t=59)

