[desktop-discuss] [brandz-discuss] X11 proxy in BrandZ

[Alan Coopersmith]

That case just helps the subset of X operations that use shared memory
to transport the images (the XShm calls for shared memory pixmaps and
the Xvideo extension that uses those for video playback) - all the commands
and all other data still flows over the main X transport layer (socket/pipe).

As far as I know, of the three transports supported in the Solaris X11
server (TCP sockets, named pipes/FIFOs, and Unix domain sockets), only
TCP sockets are visible to processes in other zones - but I know far
less about zones than you guys, so if there's a simple way for the X
server in the global zone to make the sockets or pipes from /tmp/.X11-*
visible to non-global zones, I'm all ears.   (I know the Linux guys have
also done some work on adding support for Unix domain sockets in Linux'es
abstract/non-file-system namespace, but I don't know how a Solaris X server
could make a socket appear there in a BrandZ zone.)

	-Alan Coopersmith-           alan.coopersmith at sun.com
	 Sun Microsystems, Inc. - X Window System Engineering

Edward Pilatowicz wrote:
> yeah.  i still think this is a good idea.  it's a pain to have to
> configure networking for a zone if all you want to do is run an
> X application.  unfortunatly all my free time is accounted for.
> 
> also, from my understanding, with this arc case approved:
> 	http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/caselog/2007/500/
> 
> we'd be able to get fully native application performance from an
> application that is running within a zone and remote displayed via
> such a tunnel to the global zone.
> 
> ed
> 
> On Fri, Oct 05, 2007 at 11:08:46AM -0400, Nils Nieuwejaar wrote:
>> We've talked about adding an X forwarding option to zlogin, which would be
>> similar to 'ssh -X'.  (by 'talked' I mean 'talked about informally over
>> lunch', not 'prepared an effort estimate and business case.').
>>
>> It does seem like a useful feature, but we haven't had the cycles to really
>> dig into it.
>>
>> Nils
>>
>> On Fri 10/05/07 at 17:02 PM, me at tomservo.cc wrote:
>>> Here's an idea that is worth to be considered and realized:
>>>
>>> Implementing the necessary code infrastructure to enable sort of an X
>>> server proxy, that more or less allows applications inside the (branded)
>>> zone to use the X server in the global zone directly (UNIX sockets,
>>> mmaps or whatever else is actually used), without DISPLAY or forwarding
>>> over ssh which sends data over via TCP across CrossBow (rather expensive).
>>>
>>> Reasons for this are performance related. If application developers are
>>> going to jump (back) onto the *nix bandwagon, which the signs slowly
>>> start looking like, they're going to be targeting Linux first, and only
>>> maybe Solaris depending on its success with Indiana and/or based on how
>>> much Sun pays them.
>>>
>>> If the amount of commercial Linux applications will be growing, it'll
>>> becomes expensive for Sun to sponsor ports, too. It would cost less to
>>> pay developers to implement the necessary infrastructure. In an
>>> optimistic view, Solaris would get access to a whole lot of more of
>>> applications, again helping the popularity of Solaris as a platform for
>>> commercial packages (initially with BrandZ crutches). And if that
>>> happens, developers might consider the idea of doing direct ports,
>>> either because they can (I suppose at some point, Solaris will be up to
>>> the point, where it is equivalent to Linux on library level, so that
>>> things can just compile) or to use specific Solaris functionality.
>>>
>>> Applications in question are the types that need high bandwidth, e.g.
>>> OpenGL applications (that includes games), video applications (sending
>>> uncompressed video frames over ssh), image editors (Photoshop Linux?
>>> Like ever :), to name a few examples.
>>>
>>> This would also allow sandboxing graphics heavy application into zones,
>>> for whatever reason this might be necessary. Thing that would come into
>>> my mind would be application mobility using zones.
>>>
>>> -mg
>>>
>>
>>
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