Welcome to Day 82 of the #100DaysOfDevOps Challenge! Today we will see about the Virtualization.
What is virtualization?
Virtualization is a technology that allows us to create virtual machines (VMs) from a single physical resource.
VMs are like computers within a computer, and we can run different operating systems on the same machine. This is done using a hypervisor, which is a piece of software that creates and manages the virtual machines.
“Its is the technology of splitting a physical resources into as many logical resources as we want. In general it is a creation of virtual machines(VM) and manage them from one place.”
The virtualization process follows the steps listed below:
Hypervisors detach the physical resources from their physical environments.
Resources are taken and divided, as needed, from the physical environment to the various virtual environments.
System users work with and perform computations within the virtual environment.
Once the virtual environment is running, a user or program can send an instruction that requires extra resources form the physical environment. In response, the hypervisor relays the message to the physical system and stores the changes. This process will happen at an almost native speed.
The virtual environment is often referred to as a guest machine or virtual machine. The VM acts like a single data file that can be transferred from one computer to another and opened in both; it is expected to perform the same way on every computer.
Why is virtualization important?
By using virtualization, you can interact with any hardware resource with greater flexibility. Physical servers consume electricity, take up storage space, and need maintenance. You are often limited by physical proximity and network design if you want to access them. Virtualization removes all these limitations by abstracting physical hardware functionality into software. You can manage, maintain, and use your hardware infrastructure like an application on the web.
Efficient hardware use
With virtualization, the company creates three digital servers, or virtual machines, on a single physical server. It specifies the operating system requirements for the virtual machines and can use them like the physical servers. However, the company now has less hardware and fewer related expenses.
Infrastructure as a service
The company can go one step further and use a cloud instance or virtual machine from a cloud computing provider such as AWS. AWS manages all the underlying hardware, and the company can request server resources with varying configurations. All the applications run on these virtual servers without the users noticing any difference. Server management also becomes easier for the company’s IT team.
Virtual machine
A virtual machine is a software-defined computer that runs on a physical computer with a separate operating system and computing resources. The physical computer is called the host machine and virtual machines are guest machines. Multiple virtual machines can run on a single physical machine. Virtual machines are abstracted from the computer hardware by a hypervisor.
Hypervisor
The hypervisor is a software component that manages multiple virtual machines in a computer. It ensures that each virtual machine gets the allocated resources and does not interfere with the operation of other virtual machines. There are two types of hypervisors.
Type 1 hypervisor
A type 1 hypervisor, or bare-metal hypervisor, is a hypervisor program installed directly on the computer’s hardware instead of the operating system. Therefore, type 1 hypervisors have better performance and are commonly used by enterprise applications. KVM uses the type 1 hypervisor to host multiple virtual machines on the Linux operating system.
Type 2 hypervisor
Also known as a hosted hypervisor, the type 2 hypervisor is installed on an operating system. Type 2 hypervisors are suitable for end-user computing.
What are the benefits of virtualization?
Virtualization provides several benefits to any organization:
Efficient resource use
Virtualization improves hardware resources used in your data center. For example, instead of running one server on one computer system, you can create a virtual server pool on the same computer system by using and returning servers to the pool as required. Having fewer underlying physical servers frees up space in your data center and saves money on electricity, generators, and cooling appliances.
Automated IT management
Now that physical computers are virtual, you can manage them by using software tools. Administrators create deployment and configuration programs to define virtual machine templates. You can duplicate your infrastructure repeatedly and consistently and avoid error-prone manual configurations.
Faster disaster recovery
When events such as natural disasters or cyberattacks negatively affect business operations, regaining access to IT infrastructure and replacing or fixing a physical server can take hours or even days. By contrast, the process takes minutes with virtualized environments. This prompt response significantly improves resiliency and facilitates business continuity so that operations can continue as scheduled.