[SkiFire13]

> or just what the guest OS is actually using should depend on the hypervisor itself.

How can the hypervisor know which memory the guest OS is actually using? It might have used some memory in the past and now no longer needs it, but from the POV of the hypervisor it might as well be used.

This is a communication problem between hypervisor and guest OS, because the hypervisor manages the physical memory but only the guest OS known how much memory should actually be used.

[masklinn]

A generic vmm can not, but these are specific vmms so they can likely load dedicated kernel mode drivers into the well known guest to get the information back out.

[SkiFire13]

The driver would still be part of the guest.

[masklinn]

If you control both the VMM and the guest through a driver you have an essentially infinite latitude to set up communications between the two: virtual devices, iommu, interrupts, ...