A researcher frustrated with slow VM startup times developed a hypervisor called otterlink, which significantly reduced VM startup and snapshot times compared to EC2, and has open-sourced the tool blockdiff for efficient block-level disk diffs.
Custom VM Hypervisor, Block-Level Diff Technology
2025-06-24
- website
Highlight 1
Exceptional performance boost in VM startup and snapshot speeds compared to traditional solutions like EC2.
Highlight 2
The ability to take instant snapshots significantly improves VM management and user experience, making operations more seamless.
Highlight 3
Open-sourcing the blockdiff technology fosters community engagement and collaboration, allowing others to benefit from and contribute to the innovation.
Improvement 1
The documentation could be more comprehensive, providing better guidance for developers looking to implement the technology.
Improvement 2
A user-friendly dashboard interface could facilitate easier management and monitoring of VMs for non-technical users.
Improvement 3
Adding multi-language support to the documentation and interface would help in reaching a wider global audience.
Product Functionality
Consider adding features like a user-friendly dashboard for VM management and monitoring to enhance the overall user experience.
UI & UX
Improve UI/UX by implementing a more intuitive interface that caters to both technical and non-technical users.
SEO or Marketing
Enhance SEO strategies by optimizing the website for relevant keywords and phrases to improve visibility in search engines, and consider running marketing campaigns highlighting the key benefits of BlockDiff.
MultiLanguage Support
Implement multi-language support on the website to cater to a broader audience and improve accessibility for international users.
- 1
What is BlockDiff?
BlockDiff is a tool that provides instant block-level diffs of virtual machine disks, significantly improving snapshot times and VM management capabilities.
- 2
How does BlockDiff improve VM performance?
BlockDiff reduces VM startup times by about 10x and snapshot times by around 200x compared to traditional solutions like EC2, allowing for faster management and operation of VMs.
- 3
Is BlockDiff open-source?
Yes, BlockDiff is open-sourced, allowing developers and engineers to use, contribute to, and improve the technology freely.