[ale] vmware kernel

[Ed Cashin]

I had to delve into ESX kernel stuff recently at work.  It's
not exactly a straightforward architecture.

I was looking at ESX 3.5.  It has a Linux-2.4-based kernel
AND their own proprietary kernel.  If you look at the source
for the latter, it's clearly its own thing---the coding style,
data structures, philosophy, etc., is completely different to
Linux.

When an ESX server boots, Linux starts out doing its thing,
and then the VMware kernel usurps it.  That's the best
metaphor I can think of for what happens.  The vmkernel
becomes the "real" kernel and the 2.4 Linux kernel moves
into a side role, under the control of the "vmkernel".

I didn't commit the terminology to long term memory, but
I think you can join the VMware development community
and get access to documentation, including FAQs that
explain this stuff.

-- 
  Ed Cashin <ecashin at noserose.net>