Volt VMM (Neutron Stardust): source-available under AGPSL v5.0
KVM-based microVMM for the Volt platform: - Sub-second VM boot times - Minimal memory footprint - Landlock LSM + seccomp security - Virtio device support - Custom kernel management Copyright (c) Armored Gates LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed under AGPSL v5.0
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Karl Clinger
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docs/benchmark-volt-updated.md
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docs/benchmark-volt-updated.md
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# Volt VMM Benchmark Results (Updated)
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**Date:** 2026-03-08 (updated with security stack + volt-init)
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**Version:** Volt v0.1.0 (with CPUID + Seccomp-BPF + Capability dropping + Landlock + i8042 + volt-init)
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**Host:** Intel Xeon Silver 4210R @ 2.40GHz (2 sockets × 10 cores, 40 threads)
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**Host Kernel:** Linux 6.1.0-42-amd64 (Debian)
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**Guest Kernel:** Linux 4.14.174 (vmlinux ELF format, 21,441,304 bytes)
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---
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## Summary
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| Metric | Previous | Current | Change |
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|--------|----------|---------|--------|
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| Binary size | 3.10 MB | 3.45 MB | +354 KB (+11%) |
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| Cold boot to userspace | N/A | **548 ms** | New capability |
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| Cold boot to kernel panic (median) | 1,723 ms | **1,338 ms** | −385 ms (−22%) |
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| VMM init time (TRACE) | 88.9 ms | **85.0 ms** | −3.9 ms (−4%) |
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| VMM init time (wall-clock median) | 110 ms | **91 ms** | −19 ms (−17%) |
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| Memory overhead (128M guest) | 6.6 MB | **9.3 MB** | +2.7 MB |
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| Security layers | 1 (CPUID) | **4** | +3 layers |
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| Security overhead | — | **<1 ms** | Negligible |
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| Init system | None | **volt-init (509 KB)** | New |
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---
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## 1. Binary & Component Sizes
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| Component | Size | Format |
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|-----------|------|--------|
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| volt-vmm VMM | 3,612,896 bytes (3.45 MB) | ELF 64-bit, dynamic, stripped |
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| volt-init | 520,784 bytes (509 KB) | ELF 64-bit, static-pie musl, stripped |
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| initramfs.cpio.gz | 265,912 bytes (260 KB) | gzipped cpio archive |
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| **Total deployable** | **~3.71 MB** | |
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Dynamic dependencies (volt-vmm): libc, libm, libgcc_s
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---
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## 2. Cold Boot to Userspace (10 iterations)
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Process start → "VOLT VM READY" banner displayed. 128M RAM, 1 vCPU, initramfs with volt-init.
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| Iteration | Time (ms) |
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|-----------|-----------|
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| 1 | 505 |
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| 2 | 556 |
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| 3 | 555 |
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| 4 | 561 |
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| 5 | 548 |
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| 6 | 564 |
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| 7 | 553 |
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| 8 | 544 |
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| 9 | 559 |
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| 10 | 535 |
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| Stat | Value |
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|------|-------|
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| **Minimum** | 505 ms |
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| **Median** | **548 ms** |
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| **Maximum** | 564 ms |
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| **Spread** | 59 ms (10.8%) |
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Kernel internal uptime at shell prompt: **~320ms** (from volt-init output).
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---
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## 3. Cold Boot to Kernel Panic (10 iterations)
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Process start → "Rebooting in" message. No initramfs, no rootfs. 128M RAM, 1 vCPU.
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| Iteration | Time (ms) |
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|-----------|-----------|
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| 1 | 1,322 |
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| 2 | 1,332 |
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| 3 | 1,345 |
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| 4 | 1,358 |
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| 5 | 1,338 |
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| 6 | 1,340 |
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| 7 | 1,322 |
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| 8 | 1,347 |
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| 9 | 1,313 |
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| 10 | 1,319 |
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| Stat | Value |
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|------|-------|
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| **Minimum** | 1,313 ms |
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| **Median** | **1,338 ms** |
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| **Maximum** | 1,358 ms |
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| **Spread** | 45 ms (3.4%) |
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Improvement: **−385 ms (−22%)** from previous (1,723 ms). The i8042 device emulation eliminated the ~500ms keyboard controller probe timeout.
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---
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## 4. VMM Initialization Breakdown (TRACE-level)
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| Δ from start (ms) | Duration (ms) | Phase |
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|---|---|---|
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| +0.000 | — | Program start |
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| +0.110 | 0.1 | KVM initialized |
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| +35.444 | 35.3 | CPUID configured (46 entries) |
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| +69.791 | 34.3 | Guest memory allocated (128 MB) |
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| +69.805 | 0.0 | VM created |
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| +69.812 | 0.0 | Devices initialized (serial + i8042) |
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| +83.812 | 14.0 | Kernel loaded (21 MB ELF) |
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| +84.145 | 0.3 | vCPU configured |
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| +84.217 | 0.1 | Landlock sandbox applied |
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| +84.476 | 0.3 | Capabilities dropped |
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| +85.026 | 0.5 | Seccomp-BPF installed (72 syscalls, 365 BPF instructions) |
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| +85.038 | — | **VM running** |
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| Phase | Duration (ms) | % |
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|-------|--------------|---|
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| KVM init | 0.1 | 0.1% |
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| CPUID configuration | 35.3 | 41.5% |
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| Memory allocation | 34.3 | 40.4% |
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| Kernel loading | 14.0 | 16.5% |
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| Device + vCPU setup | 0.4 | 0.5% |
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| Security hardening | 0.9 | 1.1% |
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| **Total** | **85.0** | **100%** |
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### Wall-clock VMM Init (5 iterations)
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| Iteration | Time (ms) |
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|-----------|-----------|
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| 1 | 91 |
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| 2 | 115 |
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| 3 | 84 |
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| 4 | 91 |
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| 5 | 84 |
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Median: **91 ms** (previous: 110 ms, **−17%**)
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---
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## 5. Memory Overhead
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RSS measured 2 seconds after VM boot:
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| Guest Memory | RSS (KB) | VSZ (KB) | Overhead (KB) | Overhead (MB) |
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|-------------|----------|----------|---------------|---------------|
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| 128 MB | 140,388 | 2,910,232 | 9,316 | **9.3** |
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| 256 MB | 269,500 | 3,041,304 | 7,356 | **7.2** |
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| 512 MB | 535,540 | 3,303,452 | 11,252 | **11.0** |
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Average VMM overhead: **~9.2 MB** (slight increase from previous 6.6 MB due to security structures, i8042 device state, and initramfs buffering).
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---
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## 6. Security Stack
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### Layers
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| Layer | Details |
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|-------|---------|
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| **CPUID filtering** | 46 entries; strips VMX, TSX, MPX, MONITOR, thermal, perf |
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| **Seccomp-BPF** | 72 syscalls allowed, all others → KILL_PROCESS (365 BPF instructions) |
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| **Capability dropping** | All 64 Linux capabilities cleared |
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| **Landlock** | Filesystem sandboxed to kernel/initrd files + /dev/kvm |
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| **NO_NEW_PRIVS** | Set via prctl (enforced by Landlock) |
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### Security Overhead
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| Mode | VMM Init (median, ms) |
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|------|----------------------|
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| All security ON | 90 |
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| Security OFF (--no-seccomp --no-landlock) | 91 |
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| **Overhead** | **<1 ms** |
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Security is effectively free from a performance perspective.
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---
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## 7. Devices
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| Device | I/O Address | IRQ | Notes |
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|--------|-------------|-----|-------|
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| Serial (ttyS0) | 0x3f8 | IRQ 4 | 16550 UART with IRQ injection |
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| i8042 | 0x60, 0x64 | IRQ 1/12 | Keyboard controller (responds to probes) |
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| IOAPIC | 0xfec00000 | — | Interrupt routing |
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| Local APIC | 0xfee00000 | — | Per-CPU interrupt controller |
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The i8042 device is the key improvement — it responds to keyboard controller probes immediately, eliminating the ~500ms timeout that plagued the previous version and Firecracker's default configuration.
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---
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*Generated by automated benchmark suite, 2026-03-08*
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