PHP2Uni: Building Unikernels Using Scripting Language Transpilation

Abstract

Unikernels are a rapidly emerging technology in the world of cloud computing. Unikernels build on research on library operating systems to deliver smaller, faster and more secure virtual machines, specifically optimised for a single application service. These features are especially useful in cost or resource constrained environments. However, as with any new technology, early adopters need to master many technical details, and understand many aspects of the mechanisms used to build and deploy unikernels. Both of these factors may slow adoption rates. In this paper, we present our initial experiments into the use of an approach for building unikernels that is accessible to those whose technical expertise is focused on web development. We present PHP2Uni: a tool chain that takes a website built from PHP files—PHP remains the most widely used web language— and builds a resource-efficient unikernel image from them, while requiring little knowledge of the underlying operating system software complexity.