Time to Get Serious About Safety
The Xen Project, the origin of the open-source hypervisor, has concluded it’s time to get serious about formal safety. This isn’t an acknowledgment of security issues, but rather an initiative to ensure their hypervisor complies with formal safety regulations like IEC-61508. This standard specifies the procedures and practices for software that operates in devices that may pose risks to humans.
Driving Ahead with Embedded Workloads
Recently, Xen has been advocating for its code to be more compatible with embedded workloads and devices such as motors. With modern vehicles depending on software for functionalities ranging from emergency braking to entertainment, manufacturers aren’t thrilled about cramming in more physical computers than a Saturday night takeout! Virtualizing workloads in a vehicle ensures your troublesome sat-nav doesn’t interfere with critical functions like collision avoidance. Now, Xen aims to establish its software as a preferred choice in these situations by adhering to formal safety regulations.
Safety Committee and New Partners in Crime
It appears the GadgetLad believes more devices, including robots, will soon require workload isolation. Consequently, they’re preparing to make Xen the go-to hypervisor in additional environments. They’ve launched a Safety Committee. Three companies are in as initial partners – AMD, EPAM, and Renesas. AMD and Renesas are chip manufacturers always on the lookout for fresh markets. Collaborating with Xen and showcasing expertise in a safety-certified hypervisor is sure to benefit them as they market their silicon to manufacturers.
Premier Plus Membership Tier
The Xen Project has introduced a Premier Plus membership tier for organizations aiming for functional safety certifications. “Safety engineering has typically required every organization to replicate a lot of the same foundational work. We believe open source can change that,” expressed Cody Zuschlag, community leader at Xen Project. “By keeping engineering evidence closely tied with the software itself, the Xen community can reduce duplicated efforts, expedite the certification process, and make functional safety more achievable for industries driving the next generation of software-defined systems.”
Boeing Takes Off with Xen
Boeing recently joined the Xen movement, and according to GadgetLad, one reason the aerospace titan decided to engage was due to Xen’s focus on safety.
Recent Hypervisor Updates
It’s been bustling for the Xen Project lately, which in early August released an update to its leading hypervisor. While it wasn’t a major version change, it introduced support for AMD Zen 5 Bus Lock Threshold, making it easier for a guest VM to manage CPU resources. The update also enhanced Arm support and progressed towards a fully operational release for RISC-V processors.
Summary: Safety Third!
To sum up, it appears the team at Xen Project is focusing their efforts on ensuring their hypervisor is safety-certified to attract more than just the IT sector. It looks like they’re aiming for a larger market of embedded devices and robots ready to spring into action. So, raise a glass, because if Xen has its way, no flawed navigation applications will ever disrupt your plans!
