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arXiv:2102.12892cs.CR

Restoring Uniqueness in MicroVM Snapshots

Marc Brooker, Adrian Costin Catangiu, Mike Danilov, Alexander Graf, Colm MacCarthaigh, Andrei Sandu

Early discovery. Linked by one identifiable commenter. This paper is outside the main ranking; a mention is not an endorsement.

Abstract

Code initialization -- the step of loading code, executing static code, filling caches, and forming re-used connections -- tends to dominate cold-start time in serverless compute systems such as AWS Lambda. Post-initialization memory snapshots, cloned and restored on start, have emerged as a viable solution to this problem, with incremental snapshot and fast restore support in VMMs like Firecracker. Saving memory introduces the challenge of managing high-value memory contents, such as cryptographic secrets. Cloning introduces the challenge of restoring the uniqueness of the VMs, to allow them to do unique things like generate UUIDs, secrets, and nonces. This paper examines solutions to these problems in the every microsecond counts context of serverless cold-start, and discusses the state-of-the-art of available solutions. We present two new interfaces aimed at solving this problem -- MADV\_WIPEONSUSPEND and SysGenId -- and compare them to alternative solutions.

arXiv comments
Journal reference
DOI
Subjects
cs.CRCryptography and Security cs.DCDistributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing cs.OSOperating Systems

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Linked by 1 identifiable commenter in 2 comments across 2 threads, from Apr 2022 to Sep 2022.

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Discussed in comments2 threads

  1. We clone a running VM in 2 seconds 1 comment

    • It's always great to see different ways folks are using Firecracker. Snapshot-and-restore is a particularly cool capability, especially if you solve the data movement problems (like these folks have). One challenge to clone-and-restore that they don't talk about here is making…

      mjbView on HNParent context

  2. Running Containers on AWS Lambda 1 comment

    • That's a good question! Accelerating cold starts with checkpoint and restore is a good idea. There's been a lot of research in academia around it, and some progress in industry too. It's one of those things, though, that works really well for specific use-cases or at small…

      mjbView on HNParent context

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