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Nodes

Figure 2-1

A node is 16 slots and a single boolean value called the process-running bit. A slot is a storage area for one key. A node is completely described by giving the contents of its 16 slots and the process-running bit. Nodes are not directly accessible to System/370 problem mode instructions. Nodes and their contents may be accessed by invoking keys.

A node that has the process-running bit TRUE will be viewed as a domain root by the kernel. Processes have no identity in themselves, so it is not meaningful to ask which process is associated with a given node. Start and resume keys can be used, by invoking them, to change the state of the process-running bit. There is no explicit test for the process-running bit.

Design note: It is necessary to hide the process-running bit to ensure that meters can stop domains non-destructively.

Pages

Pages hold 4096 bytes of data or programs. They are used in the construction of segments which make up the address space of domains. Keys to pages may also be called directly to access the page.

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