FTL: A new operating system for clouds
FTL is a new operating system design that runs containers as userspace libraries, aiming to combine the security of virtual machines with the performance of monolithic kernels. By implementing Linux system calls in userspace, it allows for easier feature extension and security updates without modifying the core kernel.
Why it matters
This architecture could significantly improve cloud infrastructure efficiency and security by reducing the overhead associated with traditional container-to-kernel communication.
Each container runs a userspace OS. It is a shared library which implements most of OS concepts such as Linux process, VFS, and TCP/IP. FTL kernel provides a minimal interface to implement Linux system calls in userspace, just like a hypervisor.
FTL combines the best of microkernels (flexible & secure) and monolithic kernels (performant & simple). Our goal is to make lightweight containers as secure as VMs, and unlock new OS-level abilities in applications , without sacrificing performance:
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