AMD has released its GPU-IOV Module as open-source software, aiming to enhance virtualisation capabilities for its Instinct accelerators and potentially extend support to Radeon discrete GPUs. This move is designed to facilitate Single Root I/O Virtualisation on Linux systems, enabling multiple virtual machines to share a single GPU efficiently.
The GPU-IOV Module, also known as GIM, is a Linux kernel module that supports SR-IOV-based hardware virtualisation. It is compatible with hypervisors like KVM and Xen, providing functionalities such as virtual function configuration, GPU scheduling, hang detection, and physical-virtual function communication. Currently, GIM supports AMD’s S7150 series GPUs, with indications of plans to broaden compatibility.
SR-IOV technology allows a single physical PCI Express device to appear as multiple separate virtual devices, known as virtual functions . This enables efficient sharing of GPU resources among virtual machines, improving performance and manageability in virtualised environments.