Cloud Computing – Virtualization Introduction

In the old days the Operating System was deeply connected to the hardware it ran on and moving the OS to a new machine could be next to impossible. With Virtualization an Operating System becomes a file that can be moved like any other.

Why Choose Virtualization?

  • Migration – migrating to new hardware is almost as simple as copy/paste
  • Security – having a number virtual machines that only provide a specific service is more secure than one server providing numerous services
  • Reliability – with Type 1 Hypervisors you can configure High Availability and other features to keep your Server Operating Systems functioning even when there is a physical crash of a machine.
  • Testing – use a Type 2 Hypervisor web designers can see what their sites look like on numerous operating systems with different configurations.

Types of Hypervisors

  • Type 1 (Baremetal) – Type 1 hypervisors such as ESXi are used in the enterprise to run productions servers. They require not just the hypervisor, but Also management software, and sometimes network attached storage such as a SAN. The hypervisor may be free, but the management software may be very expensive
  • Type 2 – Hypervisors such as VirtualBox or VMware Fusion allow you to run an Operating System with a Window on a host machine. I use VirtualBox on my MacBook Pro to run Linux servers for classes. The virtual Machines are full fledged operating systems and have their own independent configurations and can eve get their own DHCP IP address.

Examples:

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