What are Virtual Machines?
The virtualization or emulation of a computer system.
An efficient, isolated duplicate of a real computer machine.
About Virtual Machines (VM’s):
A Virtual Machine (VM) is a software-based simulation of a physical computer. It runs in an isolated environment on a host system, allowing multiple VMs to operate simultaneously on a same physical host, each running its own operating system (OS) and applications as if they were on separate physical machines.
There are two main types of virtualization:
- Full Virtualization: This type uses hypervisor software to emulate the underlying hardware. This allows the VM to run an OS that may be different from the host’s OS. The hypervisor sits between the hardware and the operating system, and allocates resources to the virtual machines.
- Paravirtualization: In this type, the VM is aware of the hypervisor and can interact with it directly. This can offer better performance, but the guest OS needs to be modified specifically for this environment.
Virtual Machines have various uses such as testing and development, running legacy applications, and consolidating server workloads.
To provide a brief overview:
- Virtualization: It’s the process of creating a virtual environment on a physical machine to run software, which could be an OS, applications, or both.
- Isolation: VMs operate in a manner that ensures their activities are separated from the host system and other VMs, providing a secure and individualized environment.
- Efficiency: By using VMs, one can maximize the utilization of the physical host machine, allowing multiple tasks or processes to run simultaneously without interference.
Benefits of using Virtual Machines include improved resource utilization, easier backups, increased security, and flexibility to run multiple OSs on a single physical system.
Popular VM Software:
Along with links and a brief description of each.
- VMware Workstation & VMware Fusion:
- https://www.vmware.com/
- VMware is one of the pioneers in virtualization. VMware Workstation is for Windows and Linux, while VMware Fusion is for macOS.
- Oracle VirtualBox:
- https://www.virtualbox.org/
- VirtualBox is a free and open-source solution. It’s known for its simplicity and cross-platform support (Windows, Linux, and macOS).
- Microsoft Hyper-V:
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/about/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/hyper-v-technology-overview/
- Hyper-V is integrated into Windows as a hypervisor-based virtualization system. It’s available on Windows Server and Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise editions.
- Parallels Desktop:
- https://www.parallels.com/
- Specifically for macOS, Parallels allows users to run Windows, Linux, and other OSs alongside their native macOS.
- QEMU:
- https://www.qemu.org/
- An open-source process emulator and virtualizer. Unlike other VM software, it can perform both full virtualization and paravirtualization.
- KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine):
- https://www.linux-kvm.org/
- KVM is a full virtualization solution for Linux on hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V).
- VMware vSphere/ESXi:
- https://www.vmware.com/
- https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/index.html
- This is an enterprise-level solution mainly used in data centers to virtualize servers. ESXi is the hypervisor component, and vSphere is the overarching suite.
- Citrix Hypervisor (formerly XenServer):
- https://www.citrix.com/products/citrix-hypervisor/
- An enterprise-level virtualization platform based on the Xen hypervisor. It’s managed by Citrix Systems.
- Red Hat Virtualization (RHV):
- https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/cloud-computing/openshift/virtualization/
- Managed by Red Hat, it’s an enterprise virtualization product. It’s based on the KVM hypervisor and provides management tools for virtual infrastructure.
- Proxmox Virtual Environment (PVE):
- https://www.proxmox.com/en/proxmox-virtual-environment/overview/
- An open-source server virtualization management platform based on QEMU and KVM, with an integrated web-based interface.
These are just some of the top VM software available in the market. Each of them has its strengths, catering to various user needs ranging from personal use to enterprise-level solutions.