Method and apparatus to support separate operating systems in partitions of a processing system

摘要

A processing system with multiple processing units may support separate operating systems (OSs) in separate partitions. During an initialization process, a preboot manager in the processing system may copy software to a sequestered area of memory in the processing system. The preboot manager may also configure the processing system to hide the sequestered area of memory from a first partition of the processing system. Also, the preboot manager may use a first processing unit in the processing system to boot an OS on the first partition, and the preboot manager may transmit a boot trigger from the first processing unit to a second processing unit in the processing system. The boot trigger may cause the second processing unit to use the software in the sequestered area of memory to boot a second partition of the processing system. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

主权项

1. A method for booting partitions in a processing system, the method comprising:
during initialization of the processing system: creating a first basic input/output system (BIOS) region for a main partition of the processing system using a BIOS loader; creating a second BIOS region for a sequestered partition of the processing system using the BIOS loader; booting an operating system in the main partition, the main partition running on one or more first processing units of the processing system; booting the sequestered partition using software stored in a sequestered area of memory of the processing system, wherein the sequestered area of memory is hidden from the main partition, the sequestered partition running on one or more second processing units of the processing system, and wherein the sequestered partition is hidden from the operating system of the main partition; and controlling, by the sequestered partition, a device of the processing system by accessing memory of the main partition, wherein the device of the processing system is viewable by the main partition.