1A Virtual machine is the emulation of a computing environment and this is made possible by using software as the implementation.
You can install and run an operating system or even software programs on a virtual machine. It is just a kind of software implemented into a computer or operating system.
Virtualization Layer
A virtualization layer would be created which would manage requests for hard disk, network, memory, CPU, network or any other hardware resources. These requests would be moved to the actual physical hardware by the virtualization layer. Different environments could be created, with this virtualization layer. The machine could simulate a hypothetical machine or a real physical machine.
In fact, the operating system or software programs running on the virtual machine would not be aware of the fact that they are running on a virtual machine. Programs running on a virtual platform are usually referred to as guest programs. Even the person who installs or uses these guest programs could not find any difference as it is done exactly as same as a normal physically existing system. The virtualization layer handles the requests, guest operating system would appear to have attached to a physical hard disk.
Virtual Machines
Virtual machines are generally classified into two categories:
- System Virtual Machines (hardware virtual machines)
- Process Virtual Machines (application virtual machines).
This classification is mainly based on their use and how much they are corresponded to a real machine in which they run.
System Virtual Machines
A system virtual machine provides entire system platform. Thus, if you go for a system virtual machine, you would get a operating system environment on which you can install and run programs. System virtual machines are used mostly to utilize computer resources more efficiently. If you wish to run two operating systems, say Windows 10 and Linux or Windows 7 and Windows 10, on the same computer, then it is easily possible with system virtual machine implementation.
Process Virtual Machines
A process virtual machine does not provide the whole platform; instead it provides option to run a single process. For example, if you wish to run different programming languages in different virtual environments, thus provide more program portability and flexibility, then you can go for process virtual machine. A virtual machine cannot use resources that exist out of the virtual environment.
Advantages
There are many advantages for using virtualized machines. If you really wish to make different applications or services run in different isolated environments, then virtual machine is the best choice.
It is very easy to move, copy or reassign machines between host servers, thus making computer resource utilization more efficient. If you wish to utilize resources of different machines as from a single one, then you need to make a virtual machine environment through those different computers.
You can manage disaster recovery, backup management, operating system upgrades etc easily and efficiently if you go for virtualization.
Testing team of a project can make the best use of virtualization. They don’t have to use a separate machine to deploy the application or test it. All these can be done by having multiple virtual machines on the same computer.
VMWare offers a product called Workstation Pro. VMware Workstation Pro is the industry standard for running multiple operating systems as virtual machines (VMs) on a single Linux or Windows PC. IT professionals, developers and businesses who build, test or demo software for any device, platform or cloud rely on Workstation Pro.
