49 lines
2.8 KiB
Text
49 lines
2.8 KiB
Text
---
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title: What is robur?
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---
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At robur, we build performant bespoke minimal operating systems for high-assurance services.
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With our approach to systems development we provide the following advantages for you:
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* systems based on the unikernel pioneer [MirageOS](https://mirage.io)
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* secure implementation guarded against memory corruption, typelevel problems, leaky abstraction and unforeseen state
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* ready for the cloud, services run on all major hypervisors
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* instant boot
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* competitive performance comparable to C
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* can target embedded devices because of small size and the ability to compile to native code
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* minimized state allows to reason about entire systems and their adherence to the specification
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* extensive library ecosystem, yet minimal trusted code base at runtime
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* rapid prototyping with a seamless path from prototype to production
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Computers on the Internet get compromised mostly to gain or block access to data.
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User data is being downloaded, leaked and sold, or ransomware blocks access to user data until a fee
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is paid. Other common attacks target compute resources, to use them in denial of service
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attacks or to manipulate opinion with chatbots.
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Common software stacks often include legacy parts at runtime that provide unnecessary attack surface.
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Critical security updates are rarely deployed on time, because they result in unforeseen behaviour. Also, lots of embedded
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devices are missing a secure update channel.
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[//]: # (====== marker fuer linse - aber ein comment in markdown)
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We at robur are building minimal services, called *unikernels*, from scratch with security in mind,
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instead of trying to fix decades-old software designed based on demands from earlier days.
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Each
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service is executed as a virtual machine on any major hypervisor, and contains only the
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strictly necessary code.
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The number of lines and the binary size of a unikernel with HTTP
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and TLS support is around 4% compared to a virtual machine using a conventional
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UNIX / Linux operating system.
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The security of a unikernel is improved by the reduction of the attack surface.
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Our unikernels are implemented in a functional programming language with a static
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type system and automated memory management.
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Buffer overflows and double frees are no concern to us.
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A unikernel avoids these common attack vectors by the choice of the programming language.
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We can prototype rapidly, because the type system detects errors early, and we don't need to manage memory by hand.
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Turning a prototype into production is usually a question of fine-tuning its performance.
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Our declarative programming style makes it even possible to
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formally verify an entire virtual machine using a theorem
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prover.
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The boot time of a unikernel can be measured in a few milliseconds, redeployment
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after updates is instantaneous. We can create unikernels on demand.
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