All I want is a process that can be frozen and copied to multiple servers.
start/stop is merely a state change.
start/stop is merely a state change.
1. extract all kernel state related to the target process
2. replicate the state on another machine
Both of these are extremely complicated problems.
The first problem is difficult because it’s nearly impossible to isolate all relevant state in the kernel. Process state is closely intertwined with the entire kernel state, making it all too easy to produce an incomplete snapshot that can break the system in all sorts of ways. Worse, things would get more complicated if multiple processes are involved.
The second problem is just as hard if you consider external dependencies or different kernel versions. It might simply be impossible to recreate the process even if you did succeed in creating the perfect snapshot.
Process snapshots are simply not worth the trouble.