A virtual machine is an emulated computer that runs on an actual host. It appears to be a real computer to the user and can run different operating systems, such as Windows Linux or macOS. VMs are popular as they allow for multiple environments to be run on one computer, which could save businesses a lot of money.
Typically an VM is an «guest» on host computers that provide hardware resources like processors, memory and hard disk drives. As a result, a business can fit several VMs on the same host machine, giving scalability that allows IT infrastructure to grow or shrink as necessary. This flexibility helps IT teams to save time on working on software updates, as they are able to manage each physical machine instead of having to manage them all.
There are two types of VM Hypervisors two types: Type 2 and Type 1. Type 1 hypervisors have better performance since they run directly on the host machine, without the need for a fully-fledged operating system. Type 2 hypervisors direct each VM request to the host operating system. This can slow down processing speeds and cause additional overhead.
In addition to their scalability, virtual machines can also help enhance IT security and disaster recovery. Since the virtual environment is independent of the underlying hardware, it’s much faster to restore from a VM than physical machines in the event of a failure or natural disaster. This will prevent data loss and downtime, which could directly impact your business’s bottom line.
