[asterisk-users] Which virtualization tech to get PCI assignment ?

[Gordon Henderson]

On Wed, 6 Oct 2010, Olivier wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'm looking for a virtualization technique with which I could easily assign
> PCI/PCIe boards to virtual machines.
>
> If this matters, I don't need to be able to use several boards nor to run
> several virtual machines at the same time as I'm just looking for a way to
> easily mimic several production machines on the same hardware and switch
> from one project to another.
> In every project, I'm using the same OS (Debian).
>
> In my previous searches, I've read LXC could be matching my needs but I
> couldn't read anything about PCI assignment.

LXC works by having one kernel and many containers kept separate from each 
other, so unless otherwise instructed to, each container can access any 
hardware that the host system can. (well, almost) There is a simple 
permissions system to stop containers accessing hardware though (or 
allow). So - while it's not something I've tried myself (don't have 
additional PCI hardware in my LXC boxes) it ought to work, however the 
real experts are here: 
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/lxc-users

Asterisk works just fine under LXC with internal timing, however LXC (at 
least the one I'm using) doesn't support real-time prioritys (the -p flag) 
that's not been an issue for me so-far though...

Gordon