[Announce] Development Kernel Branch Based on 2.6.15

[Mishin Dmitry]

We are opening a new development kernel branch, based on 2.6.15 vanilla 
kernel. This branch allows OpenVZ users to benefit from upstream Linux kernel 
abilities and makes OpenVZ kernel patches to be more in line with the latest 
Linux kernel.

Changes
---------
The Linux kernel 2.6.15 provides the following benefits in comparison with 
2.6.8 (which our stable kernels are based on):
    *  better hardware support, including AMD dual-core fixes and improved 
        x86_64 support;
    *  I/O schedulers, which makes it possible to assign different I/O rates
        to virtual private servers (VPSs);
    *  ext3 online resizing;
    *  improved memory management, such as 4-level tables support and
        performance enhancements;
    *  new extended bind mounts;
    *  improved locking scheme, better scalability for big SMP systems;
    *  support for filesystems in userspace (FUSE).

Compatibility
--------------
There are following differences in OpenVZ kernel 025stab014.1 differs vs. our 
current stable kernels:
    * 4 Gb split is currently not implemented; this feature is appropriate
       only for x86-based systems with more than 16 Gb of RAM;
    * fair CPU scheduler is currently not implemented. It is a work in
       progress and will be avaiable in the following releases;
    * while ip_conntrack module is loaded, connection tracking on hardware
       node is enabled by default, opposed to 2.6.8-based kernel where it is
       disabled. The behaviour is changed due to multiple complaints from
       OpenVZ users. In order to fall back to the old behaviour, use
       ip_conntrack_disable_ve0=1 parameter to the ip_conntrack module.

Downloads
------------
http://openvz.org/download/beta/kernel/archives/2.6.15-025stab014.1

Beta status
------------
While this kernel is already considered stable enough for testing and 
community review, we still recommend to stick to a stable (2.6.8-based) 
version for production environments.

Regards,
OpenVZ team.