Running DOS and Windows Applications in UnixWare - page 6 of 34

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So, how does this magic really work?

Inside 386, 486 etc, you have the ability to run virtual processors. Each of these virtual processors has controlled access to devices, memory etc. In fact, each virtual machine believes it is the whole machine! A "glue" layer manages sharing of these resources between the virtual machines running on this processor. In fact a virtual machine would never really get exclusive access to a resource - it will always be sharing (one exception springs to mind - a modem).

As far as memory is concerned, the virtual machines are actually using UNIX's virtual memory. So if you start running out of memory, UNIX will swap to disk on behalf of the virtual 8086.

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