A virtual machine (VM) is an computer system that is emulated and runs on top of a physical host machine. It appears to the user as a genuine computer system, and can run various operating systems such as Windows, Linux or macOS. VMs are popular because they allow multiple environments to be hosted on a single server, which could result in significant savings for businesses.
Typically, each VM is the „guest“ of a host machine that provides hardware resources such as processors, memory, hard disk drives and network connections. This allows businesses to put multiple VMs onto the same host computer, allowing IT infrastructures to expand and shrink as required. This flexibility allows IT teams to be less busy making changes to software since they can manage each physical machine, instead of having to manage all of them.
There are two kinds of VM Hypervisors: Type 2 and Type 1. Type 1 hypervisors provide more performance due to the fact that they run directly on the host machine, without the need for a full-blown operating system. Type 2 hypervisors route each VM request to the host operating system. This can reduce processing speeds and create additional burdens.
In addition to their scalability, virtual machines can also help improve IT security and disaster recovery. Since a virtual environment is independent from the hardware running it that makes it easier to restore from the VM than physical machines in the event of an outage or natural disaster. This can prevent data loss and downtime, which could have a direct impact on your business’s bottom line.