What is Virtualization:

Virtualization is a technology in which different virtual machines can run different operating systems and multiple applications on the same physical computer. Virtualization enhances the efficiency and availability of resources and applications. Virtualization is a term that refers to the abstraction of computer resources.

Virtualization Benefits:

* Run multiple operating systems
* Creates a virtual PC environment.
* Less hardware and thus low costs
* High availability and performance efficiency
* Better disaster recovery and high availability solutions

Different Types of Virtualization:

* Virtual machine (VM), a software implementation of a machine (computer) that executes programs like a real machine
o Platform virtualization, which separates an operating system from the underlying platform resources
+ Full virtualization, sensitive instructions replaced by binary translation or trapped by hardware – all software can run in the VM, e.g. IBM’s CP/CMS, VirtualBox, VMware Workstation
+ Hardware-assisted virtualization, CPU traps sensitive instructions – runs unmodified guest OS; used e.g. by VMware Workstation, Xen, KVM
+ Partial virtualization, for specific applications rather than the operating system
+ Paravirtualization, a virtualization technique that presents a software interface to virtual machines that is similar, but not identical, to that of the underlying hardware, thereby requiring guest operating systems to be adapted
+ Operating system-level virtualization, a method where the operating system allows for multiple user-space instances (virtual hosting, chroot jail + resource management)
o Application virtualization, the hosting of individual applications on alien hardware/software
+ Portable application, a computer software program that runs from a removable storage device as a USB flash drive
+ Cross-platform virtualization, allows software compiled for a specific CPU and operating system to run unmodified on different CPUs and/or operating systems
+ Virtual appliance, a virtual machine image designed to run on a virtualization platform
+ Emulation or simulation
* Virtual memory, which allows uniform, contiguous addressing of physically separate and non-contiguous memory and disk areas
* Storage virtualization, the process of completely abstracting logical storage from physical storage
* Network virtualization, creation of a virtualised network addressing space within or across network subnets
* Virtual private network (VPN), a computer network in which some of the links between nodes are carried by open connections or virtual circuits in some larger network(s), such as the Internet
* Memory virtualization, aggregates RAM resources from networked systems into virtualized memory pool
* Desktop virtualization, the remote manipulation of a computer desktop
* Database virtualization, the decoupling of the database layer, which lies between the storage and application layers within the application stack

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