Abstract:
A method, system, and apparatus for informing a plurality of operating systems, each assigned to a separate partition within a logically partitioned data processing system, of which functions, provided by a hypervisor for creating and enforcing separation of the logical partitions, are available for use by the operating systems is provided. In a preferred embodiment, the hypervisor includes a plurality of function sets. Each function set includes a list of functions that may be called by any one of the operating systems to perform tasks for the operating systems while maintaining separation between each of the logical partitions. The hypervisor informs each of the plurality of operating systems of an enabled function set. Functions identified within the enabled function set are enabled for use by each of the plurality of operating systems and functions not identified within the enabled function set are disabled for use by each of the plurality of operating systems.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   The present application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/589,663 entitled “HYPERVISOR AS A SET OF SERVICES” filed Jun. 8, 2000 and to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/589,665 entitled “DMA WINDOWING” filed Jun. 8, 2000 and issued Sep. 30, 2003 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,162. The content of the above-mentioned commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Technical Field 
   The present invention relates generally to the field of computer architecture and, more specifically, to methods and systems for managing resources among multiple operating system images within a logically partitioned data processing system. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   A logical partitioning option (LPAR) within a data processing system (platform) allows multiple copies of a single operating system (OS) or multiple heterogeneous operating systems to be simultaneously run on a single data processing system platform. A partition, within which an operating system image runs, is assigned a non-overlapping sub-set of the platform&#39;s resources. These platform allocable resources include one or more architecturally distinct processors with their interrupt management area, regions of system memory, and I/O adapter bus slots. The partition&#39;s resources are represented by its own open firmware device tree to the OS image. 
   Each distinct OS or image of an OS running within the platform are protected from each other such that software errors on one logical partition cannot affect the correct operation of any of the other partitions. This is provided by allocating a disjoint set of platform resources to be directly managed by each OS image and by providing mechanisms for ensuring that the various images cannot control any resources that have not been allocated to it. Furthermore, software errors in the control of an OS&#39;s allocated resources are prevented from affecting the resources of any other image. Thus, each image of the OS (or each different OS) directly controls a distinct set of allocable resources within the platform. 
   One method that has been developed to create and maintain separation between the partitions within the data processing system is the use of a firmware component referred to as a hypervisor in the RS/6000 data processing system. The RS/6000 is a product and trademark of International Business Machines Corporation of Armonk, N.Y. This firmware component performs many functions and services for the various operating system images running within the logically partitioned data processing system. 
   As the software and hardware are improved over time, the library of services offered by the firmware component expands. The OS images must be made aware of these changes. Furthermore, as various options are selected by various implementations, or options are enabled or disabled by user policy, the OS images must also be made aware of these changes as well. Currently, there is no method for providing this information to the various OS images such that they are aware of which functions are available from the firmware component on a given platform at a given time. Thus, it is desirable to have a mechanism for making the OS images within a logically partitioned system aware of which functions are available to it through the firmware component. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides a method, system, and apparatus for informing a plurality of operating systems, each assigned to a separate partition within a logically partitioned data processing system, of which functions, provided by a hypervisor for creating and enforcing separation of the logical partitions, are available for use by the operating systems. In a preferred embodiment, the hypervisor includes a plurality of function sets. Each function set includes a list of functions, that may be called by any one of the operating systems to perform tasks for the operating systems while maintaining separation between each of the logical partitions. The hypervisor informs each of the plurality of operating systems of an enabled function set. Functions identified within the enabled function set are enabled for use by each of the plurality of operating systems and functions not identified within the enabled function set are disabled for use by each of the plurality of operating systems. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  depicts a pictorial representation of a distributed data processing system in which the present invention may be implemented; 
       FIG. 2 , a block diagram of a data processing system in accordance with the present invention is illustrated; 
       FIG. 3  depicts a block diagram of a data processing system, which may be implemented as a logically partitioned server, in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  depicts a block diagram of a logically partitioned platform in which the present invention may be implemented; 
       FIG. 5  depicts an exemplary hypervisor function set table in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 6  depicts a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for providing an operating system with a list of hypervisor function calls available on a platform in accordance with the present invention; and 
       FIG. 7  depicts a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for updating a list of function sets within a platform in accordance with the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   With reference now to the figures, and in particular with reference to  FIG. 1 , a pictorial representation of a distributed data processing system is depicted in which the present invention may be implemented. 
   Distributed data processing system  100  is a network of computers in which the present invention may be implemented. Distributed data processing system  100  contains network  102 , which is the medium used to provide communications links between various devices and computers connected within distributed data processing system  100 . Network  102  may include permanent connections, such as wire or fiber optic cables, or temporary connections made through telephone connections. 
   In the depicted example, server  104  is connected to hardware system console  150 . Server  104  is also connected to network  102 , along with storage unit  106 . In addition, clients  108 ,  110  and  112  are also connected to network  102 . These clients,  108 ,  110  and  112 , may be, for example, personal computers or network computers. For purposes of this application, a network computer is any computer coupled to a network that receives a program or other application from another computer coupled to the network. In the depicted example, server  104  is a logically partitioned platform and provides data, such as booth files, operating system images and applications, to clients  108 - 112 . Hardware system console  150  may be a laptop computer and is used to display messages to an operator from each operating system image running on server  104 , as well as to send input information, received from the operator, to server  104 . Clients  108 ,  110  and  112  are clients to server  104 . Distributed data processing system  100  may include additional servers, clients, and other devices not shown. Distributed data processing system  100  also includes printers  114 ,  116  and  118 . A client, such as client  110 , may print directly to printer  114 . Clients, such as client  108  and client  112 , do not have directly attached printers. These clients may print to printer  116 , which is attached to server  104 , or to printer  118 , which is a network printer that does not require connection to a computer for printing documents. Client  110 , alternatively, may print to printer  116  or printer  118 , depending on the printer type and the document requirements. 
   In the depicted example, distributed data processing system  100  is the Internet, with network  102  representing a worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers consisting of thousands of commercial, government, education, and other computer systems that route data and messages. Of course, distributed data processing system  100  also may be implemented as a number of different types of networks such as, for example, an intranet or a local area network. 
     FIG. 1  is intended as an example and not as an architectural limitation for the processes of the present invention. 
   With reference now to  FIG. 2 , a block diagram of a data processing system in accordance with the present invention is illustrated. Data processing system  200  is an example of a hardware system console, such as hardware system console  150  depicted in FIG.  1 . Data processing system  200  employs a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) local bus architecture. Although the depicted example employs a PCI bus, other bus architectures, such as Micro Channel and ISA, may be used. Processor  202  and main memory  204  are connected to PCI local bus  206  through PCI bridge  208 . PCI bridge  208  may also include an integrated memory controller and cache memory for processor  202 . Additional connections to PCI local bus  206  may be made through direct component interconnection or through add-in boards. In the depicted example, local area network (LAN) adapter  210 , SCSI host bus adapter  212 , and expansion bus interface  214  are connected to PCI local bus  206  by direct component connection. In contrast, audio adapter  216 , graphics adapter  218 , and audio/video adapter (A/V)  219  are connected to PCI local bus  206  by add-in boards inserted into expansion slots. Expansion bus interface  214  provides a connection for a keyboard and mouse adapter  220 , modem  222 , and additional memory  224 . In the depicted example, SCSI host bus adapter  212  provides a connection for hard disk drive  226 , tape drive  228 , CD-ROM drive  230 , and digital video disc read only memory drive (DVD-ROM)  232 . Typical PCI local bus implementations will support three or four PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors. 
   An operating system runs on processor  202  and is used to coordinate and provide control of various components within data processing system  200  in FIG.  2 . The operating system may be a commercially available operating system, such as OS/2, which is available from International Business Machines Corporation. “OS/2” is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. An object-oriented programming system, such as Java, may run in conjunction with the operating system, providing calls to the operating system from Java programs or applications executing on data processing system  200 . Instructions for the operating system, the object-oriented operating system, and applications or programs are located on a storage device, such as hard disk drive  226 , and may be loaded into main memory  204  for execution by processor  202 . 
   Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in  FIG. 2  may vary depending on the implementation. For example, other peripheral devices, such as optical disk drives and the like, may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in FIG.  2 . The depicted example is not meant to imply architectural limitations with respect to the present invention. For example, the processes of the present invention may be applied to multiprocessor data processing systems. 
   With reference now to  FIG. 3 , a block diagram of a data processing system, which may be implemented as a logically partitioned server, such as server  104  in  FIG. 1 , is depicted in accordance with the present invention. Data processing system  300  may be a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) system including a plurality of processors  301 ,  302 ,  303 , and  304  connected to system bus  306 . For example, data processing system  300  may be an IBM RS/6000, a product of International Business Machines Corporation in Armonk, N.Y. Alteratively, a single processor system may be employed. Also connected to system bus  306  is memory controller/cache  308 , which provides an interface to a plurality of local memories  360 - 363 . I/O bus bridge  310  is connected to system bus  306  and provides an interface to I/O bus  312 . Memory controller/cache  308  and I/O bus bridge  310  may be integrated as depicted. 
   Data processing system  300  is a logically partitioned data processing system. Thus, data processing system  300  may have multiple heterogeneous operating systems (or multiple instances of a single operation system) running simultaneously. Each of these multiple operating systems may have any number of software programs executing within it. Data processing system  300  is logically partitioned such that different I/O adapters  320 - 321 ,  328 - 329 ,  336 - 337 , and  346 - 347  may be assigned to different logical partitions. 
   Thus, for example, suppose data processing system  300  is divided into three logical partitions, P 1 , P 2 , and P 3 . Each of I/O adapters  320 - 321 ,  328 - 329 , and  336 - 337 , each of processors  301 - 304 , and each of local memories  360 - 364  is assigned to one of the three partitions. For example, processor  301 , memory  360 , and I/O adapters  320 ,  328 , and  329  may be assigned to logical partition P 1 ; processors  302 - 303 , memory  361 , and I/O adapters  321  and  337  may be assigned to partition P 2 ; and processor  304 , memories  362 - 363 , and I/O adapters  336  and  346 - 347  may be assigned to logical partition P 3 . 
   Each operating system executing within data processing system  300  is assigned to a different logical partition. Thus, each operating system executing within data processing system  300  may access only those I/O units that are within its logical partition. Thus, for example, one instance of the Advanced Interactive Executive (AIX) operating system may be executing within partition P 1 , a second instance (image) of the AIX operating system may be executing within partition P 2 , and a Windows 2000™ operating system may be operating within logical partition P 1 . Windows 2000 is a product and trademark of Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. 
   Peripheral component interconnect (PCI) Host bridge  314  connected to I/O bus  312  provides an interface to PCI local bus  315 . A number of Terminal Bridges  316 - 317  may be connected to PCI bus  315 . Typical PCI bus implementations will support four Terminal Bridges for providing expansion slots or add-in connectors. Each of Terminal Bridges  316 - 317  is connected to a PCI/I/O Adapter  320 - 321  through a PCI Bus  318 - 319 . Each I/O Adapter  320 - 321  provides an interface between data processing system  300  and input/output devices such as, for example, other network computers, which are clients to server  300 . Only a single I/O adapter  320 - 321  may be connected to each terminal bridge  316 - 317 . Each of terminal bridges  316 - 317  is configured to prevent the propagation of errors up into the PCI Host Bridge  314  and into higher levels of data processing system  300 . By doing so, an error received by any of terminal bridges  316 - 317  is isolated from the shared buses  315  and  312  of the other I/O adapters  321 ,  328 - 329 , and  336 - 337  that may be in different partitions. Therefore, an error occurring within an I/O device in one partition is not “seen” by the operating system of another partition. Thus, the integrity of the operating system in one partition is not effected by an error occurring in another logical partition. Without such isolation of errors, an error occurring within an I/O device of one partition may cause the operating systems or application programs of another partition to cease to operate or to cease to operate correctly. 
   Additional PCI host bridges  322 ,  330 , and  340  provide interfaces for additional PCI buses  323 ,  331 , and  341 . Each of additional PCI buses  323 ,  331 , and  341  are connected to a plurality of terminal bridges  324 - 325 ,  332 - 333 , and  342 - 343 , which are each connected to a PCI I/O adapter  328 - 329 ,  336 - 337 , and  346 - 347  by a PCI bus  326 - 327 ,  334 - 335 , and  344 - 345 . Thus, additional I/O devices, such as, for example, modems or network adapters may be supported through each of PCI I/O adapters  328 - 329 ,  336 - 337 , and  346 - 347 . In this manner, server  300  allows connections to multiple network computers. A memory mapped graphics adapter  348  and hard disk  350  may also be connected to I/O bus  312  as depicted, either directly or indirectly. Hard disk  350  may be logically partitioned between various partitions without the need for additional hard disks. However, additional hard disks may be utilized if desired. 
   Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware depicted in  FIG. 3  may vary. For example, other peripheral devices, such as optical disk drives and the like, also may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted. The depicted example is not meant to imply architectural limitations with respect to the present invention. 
   With reference now to  FIG. 4 , a block diagram of an exemplary logically partitioned platform is depicted in which the present invention may be implemented. The hardware in logically partitioned platform  500  may be implemented as, for example, server  300  in FIG.  3 . Logically partitioned platform  400  includes partitioned hardware  430 , hypervisor  410 , and operating systems  402 - 408 . Operating systems  402 - 408  may be multiple copies of a single operating system or multiple heterogeneous operating systems simultaneously run on platform  400 . 
   Partitioned hardware  430  includes a plurality of processors  432 - 438 , a plurality of system memory units  440 - 446 , a plurality of input/output (I/O) adapters  448 - 462 , and a storage unit  470 . Each of the processors  442 - 448 , memory units  440 - 446 , and I/O adapters  448 - 462  may be assigned to one of multiple partitions within logically partitioned platform  400 , each of which corresponds to one of operating systems  402 - 408 . 
   Hypervisor  410 , implemented as firmware, performs a number of functions and services for operating system images  402 - 408  to create and enforce the partitioning of logically partitioned platform  400 . Firmware is “hard software” stored in a memory chip that holds its content without electrical power, such as, for example, read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), and non-volatile random access memory (non-volatile RAM). 
   Hypervisor  410  provides a secure direct memory access (DMA) window, per IOA, such as, for example, IOA  328  in  FIG. 3 , on a shared I/O bus, such as, for example, I/O bus  312  in  FIG. 3 , into the memory resources allocated to its associated OS image, such as, for example, OS image  402  in FIG.  4 . In one embodiment, as implemented within an RS/6000 Platform Architecture, the hypervisor makes use of two existing hardware mechanisms. These hardware mechanisms are called the translation control entry (TCE) facility and the DMA range register facility of an EADS PCI to PCI bridge chip. In this embodiment, these two hardware mechanisms are placed under the control of the hypervisor. 
   When platform  400  is initialized, a disjoint range of I/O bus DMA addresses is assigned to each of IOAs  448 - 462  for the exclusive use of the respective one of IOAs  448 - 462  by hypervisor  410 . Hypervisor  410  then configures the EADS range register (not shown) facility to enforce this exclusive use. Hypervisor  410  then communicates this allocation to the owning one of OS images  402 - 408 . Hypervisor also initializes all entries in the IOA associated section of the TCE table to point to a reserved page per image that is owned by an OS image, such that unauthorized accesses to memory by one of OS images  402 - 408  will not corrupt or rob data from a neighboring one of OS images  402 - 408 . 
   When an owning one of OS images  402 - 408  requests to map some of its memory for a DMA operation, it makes a call to the hypervisor  410  including parameters indicating the IOA, the memory address range, and the associated I/O bus DMA address range to be mapped. The hypervisor  410  checks that the IOA and the memory address range are allocated to the owning one of OS images  402 - 408 . The hypervisor  410  also checks that the I/O bus DMA range is within the range allocated to the IOA. If these checks are passed, the hypervisor  410  performs the requested TCE mapping. If these checks are not passed, the hypervisor rejects the request. 
   Hypervisor  410  also may provide the OS images  402 - 408  running in multiple logical partitions each a virtual copy of a console and operator panel. The interface to the console is changed from an asynchronous teletype port device driver, as in the prior art, to a set of hypervisor firmware calls that emulate a port device driver. The hypervisor  410  encapsulates the data from the various OS images onto a message stream that is transferred to a computer  480 , known as a hardware system console. 
   Hardware system console  480  is connected directly to logically partitioned platform  400  as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , or may be connected to logically partitioned platform through a network, such as, for example, network  102  in FIG.  1 . Hardware system console  480  may be, for example, a desktop or laptop computer, and may be implemented as data processing system  200  in FIG.  2 . Hardware system console  480  decodes the message stream and displays the information from the various OS images  402 - 408  in separate windows, at least one per OS image. Similarly, keyboard input information from the operator is packaged by the hardware system console, sent to logically partitioned platform  400  where it is decoded and delivered to the appropriate OS image via the hypervisor  410  emulated port device driver associated with the then active window on the hardware system console  480 . 
   In order to prevent instruction fetch errors in hypervisor  410  from affecting OS images  402 - 408  and the rest of platform  400 , two copies of the hypervisor  410  instructions are loaded into the memory of platform  400 . A hypervisor  410  instruction fetch error occurs when one of the processors  432 - 438  is executing hypervisor  410  instructions and, after fetching the next instruction from one of memories  440 - 446  containing the hypervisor  410  instructions, detects that there is an error in the instruction. For example, the error could be the result of the instruction having been stored in a bad memory location, such that the instruction has become corrupted. Such an error in the instruction results in a machine check interrupt and the processor, on occurrence of such an interrupt, is unable to determine what instruction it should execute next. In the prior art, such an occurrence would result in either a need to reboot the entire system, thus interfering with the continuous operation of OS images  402 - 408 , or extra redundancy bits for the entire system memory plus more complex encoding and decoding logic were utilized to recover from the error. Allowing for the necessity of rebooting the entire system could result in the loss of data for applications executing in one of OS images  402 - 408 , which is unacceptable and should be avoided if at all possible. Utilizing the extra redundancy bits along with more complex encoding and decoding logic impairs the speed and performance of platform  400 . 
   Hypervisor  410  also provides other functions and services to each of operating systems  402 - 408 . Some of these functions and services are not optional, such as the virtual console and operator panel described above. However, other services provided by the hypervisor  410  may be optional, allowing the platform administrator to make policy decisions with regard to options, that while generally useful, the administrator may wish to disable due to, for example, security concerns. Alternatively, optional features allow for expanded functionality over time, allowing new features to be introduced on new machines while the same operating system seamlessly runs on old machines without the new function. 
   Below, in Table 1, is an exemplary table of function sets and their mandatory/optional status. The hcall-pft functions manipulate the page frame table for processor virtual address translation. The hcall-tce function set manipulates the Direct Memory Access (DMA) facilities used by the IO devices as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/589,665 (IBM Docket No. AUS990941US1) entitled “DMA Windowing” filed on Jun. 8, 2000, and issued Sep. 30, 2003 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,162. The hcall sprg0, hcall-dabr and hcall-asr functions manipulate internal processor registers which may themselves be optional. The hcall-debug and hcall-perf function sets provide services needed by debuggers and performance monitor routines. The hcall-term function set provides the function described in the virtual terminal invention disclosure. Finally hcall-dump provides facilities to allow an OS to do a dump of the Hypervisor data areas for platform debug. 
   
     
       
             
             
             
           
         
             
                 
               TABLE 1 
             
             
                 
                 
             
             
                 
               Mandatory 
               Function Set 
             
             
                 
                 
             
           
           
             
                 
               Yes 
               hcall-pft 
             
             
                 
               Yes 
               hcall-tce 
             
             
                 
               Yes 
               hcall-sprg0 
             
             
                 
               No - Only if DABR 
               hcall-dabr 
             
             
                 
               Exists 
             
             
                 
               Yes 
               hcall-copy 
             
             
                 
               No - Only if Istar 
               hcall-asr 
             
             
                 
               Processors 
             
             
                 
               Yes 
               hcall-debug 
             
             
                 
               Yes 
               hcall-term 
             
             
                 
               Yes 
               hcall-perf 
             
             
                 
               No - Only if enabled by 
               hcall-dump 
             
             
                 
               HSC (default disabled) 
             
             
                 
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   To make certain features available, hypervisor  410  provides a list of function sets. Each function set includes one or more hypervisor function cells. Once a function set has been selected by platform  400 , all function calls contained within the function set must be made available to each of OSs  402 - 408 . 
   In one embodiment, the OS is made aware of the services in the function set by being passed a parameter called a “property” in a structure that it receives at boot time. This property contains the list of the function set names, outlined above, that are available for it to use. The OS is expected to only make those requests that are specified in the property list, however, if the OS should make some other call that is not specified as being supported, the hypervisor will return an error message to the OS. 
   As a new service or function call for hypervisor  410  is provided, a system architect adds these new services and function calls to a new function set to include the newly available services and function calls. This is typically performed by the vendor prior to delivering a new updated hypervisor version to a platform. 
   Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware and software depicted in  FIG. 4  may vary. For example, more or fewer processors and/or more or fewer operating system images may be used than those depicted in FIG.  4 . The depicted example is not meant to imply architectural limitations with respect to the present invention. 
   With reference now to  FIG. 5 , an exemplary hypervisor function set table is depicted in accordance with the present invention. Hypervisor function set table  500  includes a plurality of function sets  501 - 510  under a heading of “function set names”  520 . Each of function sets  501 - 510  contains a list of hypervisor function calls under the heading of “functions”  530  available within that particular one of function sets  501 - 510 . 
   With reference now to  FIG. 6 , a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for providing an operating system with a list of hypervisor function calls available on a platform is depicted in accordance with the present invention. To begin, the hypervisor, such as hypervisor  410  in  FIG. 4 , receives a request to configure the hypervisor function calls for the platform, such as, for example, platform  400  (step  602 ). The hypervisor presents the user (typically the system administrator), such as through a window display on hardware system console  480  in  FIG. 4 , with a list of function set options available (step  604 ). The available function sets may be Function Sets  501 - 510  depicted in FIG.  5 . In one embodiment, the displayed list may contain only the function set names with additional information about each function set available through a selectable hyperlink. In another embodiment, the list may contain the name of each function set along with information detailing the differences between the function set, but not displaying each function call available with each particular function set. In yet another embodiment, the entire function call list for each function set may be displayed to the user. 
   Once the user has selected a function set for use with the platform, the hypervisor receives the user selected option (step  606 ) and stores the selection (step  608 ) in a storage device within the platform, such as, for example, hard disk  350  in FIG.  3 . Each time a new operating system image is started on the platform, the hypervisor provides the newly started OS image with the user selected function set, which includes a list of available hypervisor function calls enabled for the OS image (step  610 ). 
   With reference now to  FIG. 7 , a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for updating a list of function sets within a platform is depicted in accordance with the present invention. To update a list of function sets with newly introduced function sets, a new version of the hypervisor firmware is loaded onto the platform (step  702 ). The platform is then rebooted (step  704 ) and the hypervisor reports any new function sets it may support to the OSs on this OS boot (step  706 ). An old level of an OS that does not understand how to use the new function set will ignore it and use the same subset of the hypervisor&#39;s functions that it did prior to the update. A newer level of OS that had been capable of using the new function but had been restricted by a lack of hypervisor firmware support in the old level of the hypervisor will, after the update, see the availability of the new functions and proceed to use them. 
   It is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functioning data processing system, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of a computer readable medium of instructions and a variety of forms and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media actually used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computer readable media include recordable-type media such as a floppy disc, a hard disk drive, a RAM, and CD-ROMs and transmission-type media such as digital and analog communications links. 
   The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.