Architectural Variants
The main scope of the Ghaf platform is edge virtualization. However, to support modular development and testing of the platform, variants are supported with the following definitions:
-
Default
A default variant. Supports minimal host, GUI VM1 and netvm. May host other VMs. For more information, see Stack. -
Headless
A variant with minimal host and netvm. May host other VMs but does not have a GUI VM or graphics stack on a host. -
Host onlyA variant with minimal host only. A user can manually install software to a host, including VMs (if supported by hardware). -
No virtualizationA variant for hardware with no support for virtualization. May run any software, similar to popular Linux distributions, but cannot support guest virtual machines. May host any software deployed directly on a host.
| Variant Name | Headless | Graphics | VMs | Devices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Default | No | GUI VM | Supported | Jetson, generic x86 |
Headless | Yes | No | Supported | Jetson, generic x86 |
Host Only | Yes | No | May be supported but not included | Jetson, generic x86 |
No Virtualization | Yes or no | Native on host | Not supported | Raspberry Pi, RISC-V |
As of early 2023, the graphics stack is deployed on a host to support application development. Work is ongoing to define the GUI VM and isolate graphics with GPU passthrough.