Skip to content

Commit 889903d

Browse files
Updates
1 parent 9f46022 commit 889903d

3 files changed

Lines changed: 14 additions & 13 deletions

File tree

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/cca-device-attach/1-introduction.md

Lines changed: 2 additions & 2 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ weight: 2
66
layout: learningpathall
77
---
88

9-
## What is Arm’s Confidential Computing Architecture (CCA) and Realm Management Extension (RME)?
9+
## What is Arm’s Confidential Computing Architecture (CCA) and the Realm Management Extension (RME)?
1010

1111
Arm Confidential Computing Architecture (CCA) is a security framework introduced in the Armv9-A architecture. It defines a set of hardware-enforced isolation features that enable the creation of secure execution environments, which are designed to protect sensitive data while it’s being processed. CCA is the foundation of Confidential Computing on Arm platforms, ensuring that even privileged software like operating systems and hypervisors can’t access protected data.
1212

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Together, CCA and RME deliver the infrastructure needed to build Confidential Co
1616

1717
## What is a Realm?
1818

19-
A **Realm** is a protected execution environment enabled by RME. It operates independently from both the **Normal World** - where operating systems and user applications run - and the **Secure World**, which hosts trusted firmware and trusted execution environments (TEEs).
19+
A Realm is a protected execution environment enabled by RME. It operates independently from both the Normal World where operating systems and user applications run, and the Secure World, which hosts trusted firmware and trusted execution environments (TEEs).
2020

2121
Realms allow lower-privileged software, such as an application or a virtual machine, to protect its content and execution from attacks by higher-privileged software, such as an OS or a hypervisor. Realms provide an environment for confidential computing, without requiring the Realm owner to trust the software components that manage the resources that the Realm uses.
2222

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/cca-device-attach/2-virtio.md

Lines changed: 8 additions & 7 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -6,32 +6,33 @@ weight: 3
66
layout: learningpathall
77
---
88

9+
## Overview
10+
911
This section introduces VirtIO and Bounce Buffers in the context of CCA Realms, and explains how they enable secure data exchange between a Realm and the untrusted external world.
1012

1113
A Realm must eventually use physical devices to interact with the external world. The easiest way to achieve this is by using VirtIO, which provides a fast, high-level emulation layer. This is considered the first level of device attach, where access is mediated by the hypervisor using paravirtualized interfaces.
1214

1315
More advanced device attach features can be enabled by hardware security features like PCIe-TDISP (**T**EE **D**evice **I**nterface **S**ecurity **P**rotocol) and PCIe-IDE (**I**ntegrity
1416
and **D**ata **E**ncryption), where the host OS assigns a physical device to a Realm. The Realm can then make security measurements on the physical device and include those in its attestation base.
1517

16-
## VirtIO
17-
18-
Learn how VirtIO provides an efficient, paravirtualized I/O interface between Realms and host devices.
19-
2018
### What is VirtIO?
2119

22-
VirtIO is an abstraction layer for virtual devices in virtualized environments. It provides standardized and efficient interfaces between guest virtual machines (VMs) and host devices, making it easier to develop paravirtualized drivers.
20+
VirtIO provides an efficient, paravirtualized I/O interface between Realms and host devices. It is an abstraction layer for virtual devices in virtualized environments. It provides standardized and efficient interfaces between guest virtual machines (VMs) and host devices, making it easier to develop paravirtualized drivers.
2321

2422
Paravirtualized means that the guest OS is aware it’s running in a virtualized environment and can use optimized drivers (VirtIO) to communicate with virtual hardware. Emulating physical hardware devices (like NICs or disks) for VMs is slow and inefficient. VirtIO allows VMs to bypass full device emulation and use streamlined drivers.
2523

26-
VirtIO is most commonly used with KVM/QEMU virtualization. Example drivers include:
24+
VirtIO is most commonly used with KVM/QEMU virtualization.
25+
26+
Example drivers include:
27+
2728
- `virtio-net`: Paravirtualized networking
2829
- `virtio-blk`: Block device (disk) access
2930
- `virtio-fs`: File sharing (host ↔ guest)
3031
- `virtio-balloon`: Dynamic memory management
3132
- `virtio-rng`: Random number source
3233
- `virtio-console`: Simple console interface
3334

34-
### How VirtIO works in VMs
35+
### How does VirtIO work in VMs?
3536

3637
Here is an overview of how VirtIO works in Virtual Machines:
3738

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/cca-device-attach/_index.md

Lines changed: 4 additions & 4 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@ learning_objectives:
1010
- Explain what device attach means and how it applies to different types of devices
1111

1212
prerequisites:
13-
- An AArch64 or x86_64 computer running Linux or macOS. you can use a cloud instance from one of these [Arm cloud service providers](/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/csp/).
14-
- Completion of [Get Started with CCA Attestation and Veraison](/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/cca-veraison) Learning Path.
15-
- Completion of the [Run an application in a Realm using the Arm Confidential Computing Architecture (CCA)](/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/cca-container/) Learning Path.
16-
- Completion of the [Run an end-to-end Attestation Flow](/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/cca-essentials/) Learning Path.
13+
- An AArch64 or x86_64 computer running Linux or macOS. You can also use a cloud instance from one of these [Arm cloud service providers](/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/csp/).
14+
- Completion of [Get Started with CCA Attestation and Veraison](/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/cca-veraison) Learning Path
15+
- Completion of the [Run an application in a Realm using the Arm Confidential Computing Architecture (CCA)](/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/cca-container/) Learning Path
16+
- Completion of the [Run an end-to-end Attestation Flow](/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/cca-essentials/) Learning Path
1717

1818
author: Arnaud de Grandmaison
1919

0 commit comments

Comments
 (0)