Xen Virtualization Consulting

20 years of Xen Project expertise - from deep x86 internals to community leadership. Helping organizations solve complex virtualization challenges.

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About George Dunlap

George Dunlap is a 20-year veteran of the Xen Project who combines deep expertise in systems programming with a drive to build systems that work - software that works for users, code infrastructure that works for developers, policies that work for contributors, and open-source business models that work for companies.

After 17 years at XenSource/Citrix, George left in 2024 to launch Laleo Language. While his primary focus is on this new venture, he accepts a limited number of high-impact Xen engagements per quarter through the company—giving select organizations access to deep maintainer-level expertise for critical architecture and security challenges without the overhead of a full-time hire.

Credentials & Experience

20 Years

with the Xen Project

6000+

lines still in xen.git

4 Years

as Community Manager

Security

Team Member (Former)

Technical Contributions
  • Credit2 scheduler design and implementation
  • Shadow pagetable performance optimization
  • Nested paging support (Intel & AMD)
  • Found & fixed XSA-299 (recursive PV pagetables)
  • QEMU deprivileging architecture
  • xentrace / xenalyze tooling
  • Golang bindings for libxl
Leadership & Process
  • Community Manager (2019-2023)
  • Xen maintainer and committer
  • Security team member
  • Drove security pre-disclosure list policy
  • Crafted MAINTAINERS check-in policy
  • Designed SUPPORT.md framework
  • Managed virtual and in-person XenSummits

Services

Expert Assessment

Intensive problem-solving engagements. Fly-in for a week of focused work on your toughest virtualization challenges - architecture review, performance analysis, or debugging complex issues.

Technical Mentoring

Ongoing support to upskill your team. Code review, architectural guidance, and mentorship to help your engineers become effective Xen contributors.

Training & Workshops

Custom training on Xen internals, x86 virtualization, or open-source contribution processes. Tailored to your team's needs and experience level.

Technical Expertise

x86 Virtualization Internals
  • VMentry/VMexit paths and optimization
  • Shadow pagetables (deep expertise)
  • Nested pagetables (EPT/NPT)
  • Hardware-assisted virtualization (Intel VT-x, AMD-V)
  • PV and HVM guest support
Performance & Scheduling
  • Credit2 scheduler (primary author)
  • Performance profiling and analysis
  • xentrace / xenalyze tooling
  • Workload characterization
  • Bottleneck identification
Security
  • Security team experience
  • XSA analysis and resolution
  • QEMU deprivileging architecture
  • Attack surface reduction
  • Security hardening guidance
Architecture & Process
  • API and interface design
  • Code maintainability assessment
  • Xen coding style and conventions
  • Upstream contribution strategy
  • Open-source governance

Industries & Use Cases

Automotive

Embedded Xen for automotive applications. Safety-critical systems, real-time requirements, and mixed-criticality workloads.

Cloud Providers

Hypervisor performance debugging and optimization, security assessments.

Embedded Systems

Resource-constrained environments. Architectural evaluations, optimization for specific hardware.

Enterprise

Enterprise virtualization strategy. Security hardening, compliance requirements, advanced feature implementation.

Published Work & Talks

Conference Talks
Articles & Blog Posts

Engagement Models

Week-Long Intensive

Focused problem-solving engagement

  • On-site or remote
  • Deep-dive on specific challenges
  • Architecture review
  • Performance analysis
  • Comprehensive report
Ongoing Part-Time

Regular support and mentoring

  • 1 day per week
  • Code review
  • Team mentoring
  • Upstream guidance
  • Flexible scheduling
Project Work

Specific feature or analysis

  • Scoped deliverables
  • Security audit
  • Feature implementation
  • Documentation
  • Training materials

Get in Touch

Interested in discussing how I can help with your Xen-related challenges? I'd love to hear from you.

Schedule a Call

Or email [email protected]

Based in the UK. Available for remote work and occasional on-site engagements.