Patent ID: 7558723

Claim:
A method for implementing a bimodal virtual device in a computer system, said method comprising: receiving, by the bimodal virtual device, a request, the bimodal virtual device configured to selectively operate with one or more virtual machines in two different modes, a first mode comprising a hardware mode during which the bimodal virtual device emulates a specific hardware device and is accessed by a virtual machine via a device driver that is configured to drive the specific hardware device by configuring emulated hardware components of the emulated specific hardware device, a processor requiring a first amount of cycles to emulate the hardware components of the emulated specific hardware device, and a second mode comprising an idealized mode, the idealized mode configured to send input/output instructions from a guest operating system to a host operating system, the processor requiring a second amount of cycles to send the input/output instructions, the second amount of cycles lower than the first; selecting an operating mode to service the request; and executing an instruction in accordance with the selected operating mode.