Mirage OS It is quite an interesting project, since it is an operating system library to build unikernels for secure or high-performance applications oriented to networks, the cloud, mobile platforms, etc. These unikernels can be compiled on GNU / Linux and other Unix operating systems, as well as running on the KVM hypervisor or on Xen for their virtualization.
For this, MirageOS uses OCaml, a language with libraries to provide functionalities of networks, storage, and the features supported by a system. The latest version released was published in February 2017, with the launch of Mirage OS 3.0. For those interested, you can download and obtain more information about the project at mirage.io .
For those who do not know what they are the unikernelsThese are structures specially designed to use operating system libraries, the minimum necessary to run a certain application. This saves virtualizing the entire OS and improves overall performance. Both the application code, as well as the libraries and this general purpose unikernel, are compiled to be able to run directly on a hypervisor or on the hardware without the need for an operating system to intervene in the process.
And it is not only a matter of performance (as it turns out to need only 4% of the size of a traditional OS, and the optimization of the necessary drivers), it also improves safety by reducing the amount of code deployed to run the application, therefore it leaves less room for maneuver for the attacker. Not forgetting its versatility and importance for modern applications. That is why there are more and more projects like MirageOS, such as OSV, Runtime.js, IncludeOS, HermitCore, HaLVM, Clive, Grafene, ClickOS, etc.