A virtual machine (VM) is an computer system that is emulated on top of a physical host machine. It appears to the user as a real computer system and runs a variety of operating systems, including Windows, Linux or macOS. VMs are popular because they permit multiple environments to be hosted on one server, resulting in significant cost savings for businesses.
Typically typically, each VM is the “guest” of host machines that provide hardware resources such as processors memory, hard disk drives, memory and network connections. As a result, businesses can put several VMs on the same host machine, providing flexibility to allow IT infrastructure to grow or shrink as needed. This flexibility allows IT teams to save time on making changes to software since they can manage each physical machine rather than having to manage them all.
There are two kinds of VM hypervisors: Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 hypervisors are more performant because they run directly on a host machine without the need for a full-blown operating system. Type 2 hypervisors route every VM request to the host operating system. This can reduce processing speed and add cost.
Virtual machines can enhance IT security, and also disaster recovery. Virtual machines are not tied to the physical hardware they run on. This makes it easier to restore a VM in the event of an outage or natural disaster. This can prevent downtime and data loss that can directly impact your business’s bottom line.