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Unikernel
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<p>A unikernel is a type of computer program that is <a href="/facts/Static_linking/CB39voVa">statically linked</a> with the <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating system</a> code on which it depends. Unikernels are built with a specialized <a href="/facts/Compiler/WNfCDFJe">compiler</a> that identifies the operating system services that a program uses and links it with one or more <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">library operating systems</a> that provide them. Such a program requires no separate operating system and can run instead as the guest of a <a href="/facts/Hypervisor/3gX9fKlH">hypervisor</a>. </p><p>The unikernel architecture builds on concepts developed by <a href="/facts/Exokernel/xW4j43ua">Exokernel</a> and <a href="/facts/Nemesis_(operating_system)/THEwt0Q7">Nemesis</a> in the late 1990s. </p>