MicroVM on Edge: Is It Ready for Prime Time?

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Container virtualization is recognized as indispensable for realizing the vision of edge computing due to its advantages. However, OS-level virtualization suffers from a relatively low degree of security. Recently, microVM technology has emerged in response to this deficiency to provide stronger isolation and security while delivering performance comparable to the containers. In this work, we aim to gain a better understanding of microVM's suitability for edge computing in comparison with containers. We conduct extensive experiments on diverse workloads to test how microVMs compare against containers in several aspects. Through rigorous measurements and analysis, we extract several important findings. Despite having a more complex architecture than containers, microVMs perform comparably to the containers in terms of I/o performance. MicroVMs can even outperform containers in certain I/O workload types by 69%. Network I/O performance of microVMs can be 3x better than containers. We provide our findings and insights on the performance characteristics of microVMs on edge.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2023 31st International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems, MASCOTS 2023
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
ISBN (Electronic)9798350319484
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023
Event31st International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems, MASCOTS 2023 - Stony Brook, United States
Duration: 16 Oct 202318 Oct 2023

Publication series

NameProceedings - IEEE Computer Society's Annual International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunications Systems, MASCOTS
ISSN (Print)1526-7539

Conference

Conference31st International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems, MASCOTS 2023
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityStony Brook
Period16/10/2318/10/23

Keywords

  • Edge
  • Firecracker
  • Kata Containers
  • MicroVm

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