Virtualization

Virtualization is the process of creating virtual versions of computing resources such as servers, storage, networks, or operating systems. Instead of relying solely on physical hardware, virtualization allows multiple virtual machines (VMs) or environments to run on a single physical system. Each VM operates independently with its own operating system and applications, while sharing the same underlying hardware.
This technology improves efficiency, scalability, and cost savings by maximizing resource utilization. Virtualization is widely used in data centers, cloud computing, and enterprise IT environments to reduce hardware costs, improve disaster recovery, and streamline system management.
Advanced
Virtualization is enabled by a hypervisor, which manages the allocation of physical resources to virtual machines. There are two main types: Type 1 (bare-metal), which runs directly on hardware, and Type 2 (hosted), which runs on top of an existing operating system. Advanced features include live migration, resource pooling, and high availability clustering.
Virtualization extends beyond servers to storage virtualization, network virtualization, and desktop virtualization (VDI). It is the foundation of cloud computing, enabling Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and supporting DevOps practices with virtualized test and development environments. Containerization, while distinct, is often discussed alongside virtualization as a lightweight alternative for deploying applications.
Relevance
Applications
Metrics
Issues
Example
A mid-sized business consolidated 20 physical servers into 5 using virtualization. This reduced hardware costs, energy consumption, and space requirements while improving scalability and disaster recovery capabilities through VM snapshots and replication.