Virtualization Technology

What Is Virtualization?

Virtualization is the technology through which a single computer system is made to work like multiple machines.In other words there may several operating systems working at the same time on a single machine.For example , you may have installed Windows XP as your primary operating system but there may requirement of running a server class operating system on the same system.There are two ways to do that.The first one is obvious that is to install that server operating system on separate machine.But this is a bit costly it terms of resources because you have to use separate computer to do that.

The latest technology to prevent this is the virtualization technique.In virtualization we use a software specially created for this purpose.This software works as a thin layer between your primary operating system and the other n number of operating systems which can be installed on that special software.Many virtualization software are available in the market.So virtualization is a technology which divides the hardware of a system into multiple execution environments.So you may have solaris running on Windows XP.

Microsoft Virtual PC is microsoft's offering in the field of virtualization.VMware is another software widely used for virtualization.In large enterprises the importance of virtualization is even greater so that resources can be efficiently utilized.The reason being that the IT Infrastructure used in big companies is very costly.

Virtualization is not only used to simulate the hardware but it can also be used to simulate a network of computers.

Another use of virtualization may be when you need to run legacy applications on a computer.These applications may not be able to utilize the resources.In that case it is better to use virtualization technology.From the security point view virtualization can be used to securely execute the untrusted applications in a separate environment.Virtualizaton can also be used to put extra workload on underutilised servers.Thus we can see now that virtualization is a very good technology to utilize IT infrastructure.

More Info

VirtualBox from Sun Microsystems
Virtualization – Before Disaster Strikes
The Future of Virtual Desktops: Turning Rich Desktops into a Ubiquitous Service
Beta version of VMware Fusion 2.0