What is Virtualization?

Virtualization is the technology to generate virtual instances of computer resources for multiple uses of the same physical resource. There are several virtualization technologies available that are capable of virtualizing the server, storage, networks, and operating systems. The virtualization technology is known for easy to set up and environment setup cost optimization with higher processing efficiency. The virtualization environment shared the actual resources component such as Memory(RAM), disk space and network as a separate resource group. Virtualization helps the organizations to scale the computation resources. Virtual machines (VM) are the popular uses of hardware virtualization that are managed through the hypervisor

How does it work?

This is a single physical machine with multiple virtual machines. Large companies with dozens and even hundreds of servers use server virtualization to increase their operating effectiveness and consolidate the number of machines running. It can help business by making it possible to maintain fewer devices, use these devices in a better way and ensure more reliable backup and recovery. Once a virtual server is configured, you can configure the new virtual servers using the same configuration which only takes several minutes.

Benefits

Following are the benefits:

It saves space as well as operating cost.
Easy management of the data centers.
It can increase the Productivity of IT.
It helps to continue working if the system crashes or any sudden failures.
Applications and resources are provided more quickly while using virtualization.

Types of Virtualization

Hardware Virtualization.
Application Virtualization.
Server Virtualization.
Network Virtualization.
Desktop Virtualization.
Storage Virtualization.

1. Hardware

This is the most common type of virtualization. A virtual machine manager (VM) which called as hypervisor makes hardware virtualization possible. The hypervisor creates and consolidates virtual versions of computers and operating systems into one large physical server, making it possible to use all hardware resources more efficiently. Users can multiple operating systems on the same machine simultaneously.

2. Application

In Application virtual, applications are virtualized on the server. After that, the application is sent from the server to the devices of the end users. Instead of logging into their work computers, users will be able to access the application directly from their device with a proper internet connection.

3. Server

The virtualization of servers is the masking of server resources from server users, including the number and identity of physical servers, processors, and operating systems. There are some popular server virtualization approaches which are as follows:

Virtual machine model.
Paravirtual machine model.
Operating system layer.

Virtual machine model – Host/Guest paradigms are based on a virtual machine. This Approach enables the guest operating system to operate without change.
Paravirtual machine model – Host/Guest paradigms are based on virtual machines and also it uses in virtual machine monitor.
Operating system layer – Operating system layer is not based on paradigms this OS layer model runs on a single OS kernel.

4. Network

This (NV) means a hardware platform is simulated. For example, a software server, storage device or network resource. It provides a summary for networking and services through hardware into a logical, virtual network which is connected to a physical network on a hypervisor and operates independently from the network. It can provide a virtual network that is truly independent of other network resources in a virtual environment.

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There are different types of network virtualization such as external and internal NV. External NV is a combination of different networks located in different places. Whereas in Internal NV, the network is divided into a single system.

5. Desktop

We often call Desktop as client virtualization. This desktop technique is used to separate the physical computer from the computer desktop environment. You can interact in the same way that you use a physical desktop on a virtual desktop. It reduces the cost of software licenses and updates. Also, patch management and maintenance on the systems is easy because all the virtual desktops are hosted at the same place. Another advantage of desktop virtualization is to remotely log in from any location to access your desktop. This desktop virtualization is been used in server computing models.

6. Storage

Storage is very important and useful when there are sudden system breakdowns. It is done by assembling all of the physical hard drives into one cluster. In the time of crashing or unavailability of the hardware or software, the user can recover data from this. Copies of data can be stored and moved to another location. It can be implemented by software applications or by using software and hardware devices simultaneously.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Virtualization

Given below are the advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

No actual hardware components for installation are required.
You can access the virtualization from the third party or you can purchase the licenses.
The most frequent providers of virtualization automatically update their useful hardware and software. They are installed by a third party provider instead of sending individuals to updates locally.
Digital entrepreneurship was practically impossible for an average person before virtualization took place to a large scale.
Energy consumption lowers because less power is consumed on physical servers.
When dozens of servers can be installed on the same computer, the supply of servers is almost no extra cost.

Disadvantages

Not every application or server will work in a virtualization environment.
You will need to invest in training existing network administrators who do not have the capabilities to manage a virtual network.
In a virtualized system, when something is wrong, complex troubleshooting is needed.
The difficulty is that the extra resources needed are almost impossible to estimate in advance.

Conclusion

In this article, we covered the meaning and how it works. Also, there is a descriptive guide on types and their advantages and disadvantages. Initially, any type of virtualization can be complex and confusing but it gets easier, time and cost saving and effective for any business with the time and practice.