About NetBSD and Xen (Was: Stability of -current for a Xen Dom0 machine)

[Stefano Marinelli <postnet%dragas.dyndns.org@localhost>]

> The only downside is the fact that the version of Xen in NetBSD is
> getting a little crusty.  Last I checked, it was still on 3.3.x.  XCP
> 1.0.0 which is stable now uses 3.4.2, and let's not even get started
> on 4.0.x.

More than the Xen version (actually I do not need many of the new features Xen 
offers), the problem I have noticed is related to power management.
I don't know if it's Xen 3.3 related or NetBSD related. What I can see is that 
my test machine (a amd64 TurionX2 notebook) with NetBSD 5.1 and Xen 3.3, 
requires around 62 W to stay idle. The same notebook, with Debian Squeeze and 
Xen 4, just 45. 
I will try on one of my production servers (4 cpus), but I think the difference 
will be quite huge. On the notebook, this causes fans to be on at all the time. 
NetBSD without Xen has the same power drain. Debian without Xen has the same 
power drain of NetBSD *UNLESS* i load the powernow-k8 driver. At that point, it 
goes down to 45W, too.

Just my 2 cents :)
Stefano