On I/O virtualization management

The quick adoption of virtualization technology in general and the advent of the Cloud business model entail new requirements on the structure and the configuration of back-end I/O systems. Several approaches to virtualization of I/O links are being introduced, which aim at implementing a more flexible I/O channel configuration without compromising performance. While previously the management of I/O devices could be limited to basic technical requirments (e.g. the establishment and termination of fixed-point links), the additional flexibility carries in its wake additional management requirements on the representation and control of I/O sub-systems. This paper focuses on the modelling of dynamic and static aspects of the management of virtual I/O devices. Based on management scenarios and common operations on virtual machines we propose management function prototoypes and discuss the corresponding necessary information items.