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 * What is Virtualization?


VIRTUALIZATION

By: IBM Cloud Education
19 June 2019
 * Compute

 * What is virtualization?
 * Benefits of virtualization
 * Solutions
 * Virtual machines (VMs)
 * Hypervisors
 * Types of virtualization
 * Virtualization vs. containerization
 * VMware
 * Security
 * Virtualization and IBM

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VIRTUALIZATION

Virtualization is a process that allows for more efficient utilization of
physical computer hardware and is the foundation of cloud computing.


WHAT IS VIRTUALIZATION?

Virtualization uses software to create an abstraction layer over computer
hardware that allows the hardware elements of a single computer—processors,
memory, storage and more—to be divided into multiple virtual computers, commonly
called virtual machines (VMs). Each VM runs its own operating system (OS) and
behaves like an independent computer, even though it is running on just a
portion of the actual underlying computer hardware.

It follows that virtualization enables more efficient utilization of physical
computer hardware and allows a greater return on an organization’s hardware
investment.

Today, virtualization is a standard practice in enterprise IT architecture. It
is also the technology that drives cloud computing economics. Virtualization
enables cloud providers to serve users with their existing physical computer
hardware; it enables cloud users to purchase only the computing resources they
need when they need it, and to scale those resources cost-effectively as their
workloads grow.

For a further overview of how virtualization works, see our video
“Virtualization Explained” (5:20):




BENEFITS OF VIRTUALIZATION

Virtualization brings several benefits to data center operators and service
providers:

 * Resource efficiency: Before virtualization, each application server required
   its own dedicated physical CPU—IT staff would purchase and configure a
   separate server for each application they wanted to run. (IT preferred one
   application and one operating system (OS) per computer for reliability
   reasons.) Invariably, each physical server would be underused. In contrast,
   server virtualization lets you run several applications—each on its own VM
   with its own OS—on a single physical computer (typically an x86 server)
   without sacrificing reliability. This enables maximum utilization of the
   physical hardware’s computing capacity.
 * Easier management: Replacing physical computers with software-defined VMs
   makes it easier to use and manage policies written in software. This allows
   you to create automated IT service management workflows. For example,
   automated deployment and configuration tools enable administrators to define
   collections of virtual machines and applications as services, in software
   templates. This means that they can install those services repeatedly and
   consistently without cumbersome, time-consuming. and error-prone manual
   setup. Admins can use virtualization security policies to mandate certain
   security configurations based on the role of the virtual machine. Policies
   can even increase resource efficiency by retiring unused virtual machines to
   save on space and computing power.
 * Minimal downtime: OS and application crashes can cause downtime and disrupt
   user productivity. Admins can run multiple redundant virtual machines
   alongside each other and failover between them when problems arise. Running
   multiple redundant physical servers is more expensive.
 * Faster provisioning: Buying, installing, and configuring hardware for each
   application is time-consuming. Provided that the hardware is already in
   place, provisioning virtual machines to run all your applications is
   significantly faster. You can even automate it using management software and
   build it into existing workflows.

For a more in-depth look at the potential benefits, see "5 Benefits of
Virtualization."


SOLUTIONS

Several companies offer virtualization solutions covering specific data center
tasks or end user-focused, desktop virtualization scenarios. Better-known
examples include VMware, which specializes in server, desktop, network, and
storage virtualization; Citrix, which has a niche in application virtualization
but also offers server virtualization and virtual desktop solutions; and
Microsoft, whose Hyper-V virtualization solution ships with Windows and focuses
on virtual versions of server and desktop computers.


VIRTUAL MACHINES (VMS)

Virtual machines (VMs) are virtual environments that simulate a physical compute
in software form. They normally comprise several files containing the VM’s
configuration, the storage for the virtual hard drive, and some snapshots of the
VM that preserve its state at a particular point in time.

For a complete overview of VMs, see "What is a Virtual Machine?"


HYPERVISORS

A hypervisor is the software layer that coordinates VMs. It serves as an
interface between the VM and the underlying physical hardware, ensuring that
each has access to the physical resources it needs to execute. It also ensures
that the VMs don’t interfere with each other by impinging on each other’s memory
space or compute cycles.

There are two types of hypervisors:

 * Type 1 or “bare-metal” hypervisors interact with the underlying physical
   resources, replacing the traditional operating system altogether. They most
   commonly appear in virtual server scenarios.
 * Type 2 hypervisors run as an application on an existing OS. Most commonly
   used on endpoint devices to run alternative operating systems, they carry a
   performance overhead because they must use the host OS to access and
   coordinate the underlying hardware resources.

“Hypervisors: A Complete Guide” provides a comprehensive overview of everything
about hypervisors.


TYPES OF VIRTUALIZATION

To this point we’ve discussed server virtualization, but many other IT
infrastructure elements can be virtualized to deliver significant advantages to
IT managers (in particular) and the enterprise as a whole. In this section,
we'll cover the following types of virtualization:

 * Desktop virtualization
 * Network virtualization
 * Storage virtualization
 * Data virtualization
 * Application virtualization
 * Data center virtualization
 * CPU virtualization
 * GPU virtualization
 * Linux virtualization
 * Cloud virtualization


DESKTOP VIRTUALIZATION

Desktop virtualization lets you run multiple desktop operating systems, each in
its own VM on the same computer.

There are two types of desktop virtualization:

 * Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) runs multiple desktops in VMs on a
   central server and streams them to users who log in on thin client devices.
   In this way, VDI lets an organization provide its users access to variety of
   OS's from any device, without installing OS's on any device. See "What is
   Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)?" for a more in-depth explanation.
 * Local desktop virtualization runs a hypervisor on a local computer, enabling
   the user to run one or more additional OSs on that computer and switch from
   one OS to another as needed without changing anything about the primary OS.

For more information on virtual desktops, see “Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS).”


NETWORK VIRTUALIZATION

Network virtualization uses software to create a “view” of the network that an
administrator can use to manage the network from a single console. It abstracts
hardware elements and functions (e.g., connections, switches, routers, etc.) and
abstracts them into software running on a hypervisor. The network administrator
can modify and control these elements without touching the underlying physical
components, which dramatically simplifies network management.

Types of network virtualization include software-defined networking (SDN), which
virtualizes hardware that controls network traffic routing (called the “control
plane”), and network function virtualization (NFV), which virtualizes one or
more hardware appliances that provide a specific network function (e.g., a
firewall, load balancer, or traffic analyzer), making those appliances easier to
configure, provision, and manage.


STORAGE VIRTUALIZATION

Storage virtualization enables all the storage devices on the network— whether
they’re installed on individual servers or standalone storage units—to be
accessed and managed as a single storage device. Specifically, storage
virtualization masses all blocks of storage into a single shared pool from which
they can be assigned to any VM on the network as needed. Storage virtualization
makes it easier to provision storage for VMs and makes maximum use of all
available storage on the network.

For a closer look at storage virtualization, check out "What is Cloud Storage?"


DATA VIRTUALIZATION

Modern enterprises store data from multiple applications, using multiple file
formats, in multiple locations, ranging from the cloud to on-premise hardware
and software systems. Data virtualization lets any application access all of
that data—irrespective of source, format, or location.

Data virtualization tools create a software layer between the applications
accessing the data and the systems storing it. The layer translates an
application’s data request or query as needed and returns results that can span
multiple systems. Data virtualization can help break down data silos when other
types of integration aren’t feasible, desirable, or affordable.


APPLICATION VIRTUALIZATION

Application virtualization runs application software without installing it
directly on the user’s OS. This differs from complete desktop virtualization
(mentioned above) because only the application runs in a virtual environment—the
OS on the end user’s device runs as usual. There are three types of application
virtualization:

 * Local application virtualization: The entire application runs on the endpoint
   device but runs in a runtime environment instead of on the native hardware.
 * Application streaming: The application lives on a server which sends small
   components of the software to run on the end user's device when needed.
 * Server-based application virtualization The application runs entirely on a
   server that sends only its user interface to the client device.


DATA CENTER VIRTUALIZATION

Data center virtualization abstracts most of a data center’s hardware into
software, effectively enabling an administrator to divide a single physical data
center into multiple virtual data centers for different clients.

Each client can access its own infrastructure as a service (IaaS), which would
run on the same underlying physical hardware. Virtual data centers offer an easy
on-ramp into cloud-based computing, letting a company quickly set up a complete
data center environment without purchasing infrastructure hardware.


CPU VIRTUALIZATION

CPU (central processing unit) virtualization is the fundamental technology that
makes hypervisors, virtual machines, and operating systems possible. It allows a
single CPU to be divided into multiple virtual CPUs for use by multiple VMs.

At first, CPU virtualization was entirely software-defined, but many of today’s
processors include extended instruction sets that support CPU virtualization,
which improves VM performance.


GPU VIRTUALIZATION

A GPU (graphical processing unit) is a special multi-core processor that
improves overall computing performance by taking over heavy-duty graphic or
mathematical processing. GPU virtualization lets multiple VMs use all or some of
a single GPU’s processing power for faster video, artificial intelligence (AI),
and other graphic- or math-intensive applications.

 * Pass-through GPUs make the entire GPU available to a single guest OS.
 * Shared vGPUs divide physical GPU cores among several virtual GPUs (vGPUs) for
   use by server-based VMs.


LINUX VIRTUALIZATION

Linux includes its own hypervisor, called the kernel-based virtual machine
(KVM), which supports Intel and AMD’s virtualization processor extensions so you
can create x86-based VMs from within a Linux host OS.

As an open source OS, Linux is highly customizable. You can create VMs running
versions of Linux tailored for specific workloads or security-hardened versions
for more sensitive applications.


CLOUD VIRTUALIZATION

As noted above, the cloud computing model depends on virtualization. By
virtualizing servers, storage, and other physical data center resources, cloud
computing providers can offer a range of services to customers, including the
following:

 * Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): Virtualized server, storage, and network
   resources you can configure based on their requirements.
 * Platform as a service (PaaS): Virtualized development tools, databases, and
   other cloud-based services you can use to build you own cloud-based
   applications and solutions.
 * Software as a service (SaaS): Software applications you use on the cloud.
   SaaS is the cloud-based service most abstracted from the hardware.

If you’d like to learn more about these cloud service models, see our guide:
“IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS.”


VIRTUALIZATION VS. CONTAINERIZATION

Server virtualization reproduces an entire computer in hardware, which then runs
an entire OS. The OS runs one application. That’s more efficient than no
virtualization at all, but it still duplicates unnecessary code and services for
each application you want to run.

Containers take an alternative approach. They share an underlying OS kernel,
only running the application and the things it depends on, like software
libraries and environment variables. This makes containers smaller and faster to
deploy.

For a deep dive into containers and containerization, check out “Containers: A
Complete Guide” and “Containerization: A Complete Guide.”

Check out the blog post "Containers vs. VMs: What's the difference?" for a
closer comparision.

In the following video, Sai Vennam breaks down the basics of containerization
and how it compares to virtualization via VMs (8:09):




VMWARE

VMware creates virtualization software. VMware began by offering server
virtualization only—its ESX (now ESXi) hypervisor was one of the earliest
commercially successful virtualization products. Today VMware also offers
solutions for network, storage, and desktop virtualization.

For a deep dive on everything involving VMware, see “VMware: A Complete Guide.”


SECURITY

Virtualization offers some security benefits. For example, VMs infected with
malware can be rolled back to a point in time (called a snapshot) when the VM
was uninfected and stable; they can also be more easily deleted and recreated.
You can’t always disinfect a non-virtualized OS, because malware is often deeply
integrated into the core components of the OS, persisting beyond system
rollbacks.

Virtualization also presents some security challenges. If an attacker
compromises a hypervisor, they potentially own all the VMs and guest operating
systems. Because hypervisors can also allow VMs to communicate between
themselves without touching the physical network, it can be difficult to see
their traffic, and therefore to detect suspicious activity.

A Type 2 hypervisor on a host OS is also susceptible to host OS compromise.

The market offers a range of virtualization security products that can scan and
patch VMs for malware, encrypt entire VM virtual disks, and control and audit VM
access.


VIRTUALIZATION AND IBM

IBM Cloud offers a full complement of cloud-based virtualization solutions,
spanning public cloud services through to private and hybrid cloud offerings.
You can use it to create and run virtual infrastructure and also take advantage
of services ranging from cloud-based AI to VMware workload migration with IBM
Cloud for VMware Solutions.

Sign up today for an IBM Cloud account.

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