virtualization technology, hypervisor, virtualized networking, server virtualization, VDI, data center and cloud in virtualization technology
VIRTUALIZATION TECHNOLOGY
What is virtualization technology? The
basic definition of virtualization is you only have a single physical machine
and we can run many virtual environments within it. These virtual machines are using
the hardware resources of a single physical machine. You have one computer or
many computers inside of it those can be many types of windows machines etc.
and they are all using the main machine’s hardware.
We
use the system’s hardware and for each virtual machine allocate an amount of
processor which is CPU, RAM which is memory and storage space. We allocate each
of those to virtual machines. The total amount of processor, memory, and
storage that are using on a VM cannot exceed available physical hardware.
Benefits of virtualization technology
With
virtualization technology, we can get better use of hardware resources and increase
processor utilization. If we had two physical servers that were running
specific services on a network. They may only be using less CPU/ RAM/ Storage.
If we do virtualization we can put both of the machines into one physical
machine and run virtualization. To have both the servers into one physical
machine. Then use more CPU/ RAM/ Storage because we have more services
allocated to the resources.
It
also gives us power saving and a reduced footprint. We can consolidate many
physical pieces of hardware into one small physical hardware.
Another
great benefit is recovery. We can save a virtual machine as files and save them
in many locations for recovery purposes.
It
is also very flexible. We can move a virtual machine between different data
centers.
Specifically,
we can do research, operating systems, and other software i.e. creating
sandboxes without having the physical unit.
Type 1 Hypervisor
A Virtualization
is a hypervisor directly installed on bare metal hardware. In the hypervisor,
we add different virtual machines like operating systems and inside OS we have
different applications.
Examples
of Type 1 (Bare Metal) hypervisors are VMWare vSphere/ ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V,
and Citrix XenServer. Whenever
we install VMWare vSphere on the hardware/ bare metal server configure
virtualize environment in a command line.
Type 2 Hypervisor
A Virtualization
is a hypervisor installed directly on a hosted operating system. For example,
we have a copy of VMWare Workstation install that on a computer and run
hypervisors.
Some
of the examples of Type 2 (Hosted) hypervisors are VMWare Workstation/ Fusion,
Oracle VirtualBox, and Parallels (Mac).
Virtualized Networking
Imagine
we have a physical server. It has four network cards installed in it and
plugged into the physical network. Physical servers have CPU, RAM, Storage, and
NIC’s. We installed Type 1 hypervisor VMWare vSphere/ ESXi and configure the
virtual environment. The first part of the virtualized network has a virtual
switch. These switches can be mapped to the physical network. Then the physical
network is connected to the virtual network. Also, have virtual servers inside
that server we can create many virtual machines. Once we create a virtual
machine, set up a virtual network interface card. This virtual NIC is connected
to a virtual switch. We should have at least one virtual NIC.
What
if we want to route take place within the virtualized environment? We need a virtual
router that is connected through vNIC and mapping to different vSwitch. Lastly,
we bring a virtual firewall to provide services between different networks. We
can use more virtualized appliances and virtualized network devices in the
virtual environment.
Use cases of virtualization
Server Virtualization
This
is the main thing that most organizations use in the IT environment. In a data center,
we have physical standalone servers like domain controller, backup DC, E-mail
server, DNS server, Intranet server, File server, Phone server, FTP server, and
Print server. To get rid of all the standalone servers we need to use one virtualization
server or cluster of servers and take all the standalone servers. Consolidate
all the servers into a virtualization server to make less hardware. This is
also called physical to virtual migration. We are migrating all the physical
servers into a virtual environment.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Virtualization
of desktops/ operating systems that run in a data center. Virtualizing all the end
user’s workstations on desktops. We can use different endpoints that are very
limited such as a thin client. The client uses a base operating system that
connects to a virtualized environment. Where the actual desktop runs from the
virtualized machine and accessing it over the network. These thin client doesn’t
know the data on them. We can prevent it from stealing the information. Now
information from the desktop is stored on thin clients very minimal. And it is
easy to maintain than traditional hardware. It is easy to manage because we can
manage all the workstations as it uses a virtual environment. It has more
security because all the desktops are in the data center so it is easier to
backup. It involves cost savings because we spend less money on hardware for the
end-users. We can use the thin client as well as regular desktops for virtual
desktop infrastructure. The regular desktops will be a thick client rather than
a thin client.
Datacenter and cloud
Data centers use virtualization because of the ability to run more services and software in a smaller footprint. Public cloud computing is all about accessing services and resources from a remote data center and only paying for what you use. In addition, virtualization technology provides high-speed networking to enable the era of cloud computing. Without virtualization, we wouldn’t have many services and applications in the system these days. All these are run from a virtualized server in the data center and the cloud.
Conclusion
Virtualization technology is the process that allows a physical computer’s hardware to run many virtual machines within it. Type 1is a native or “Bare-Metal” Hypervisor. It is directly installed in bare metal hardware. Type 2 hypervisor is a Hosted Hypervisor. It is installed in hosted OS. Benefits of virtualization include easier to manage, cost savings, run on a server and a smaller footprint, using less power and hardware. The types of virtual network devices include a virtual switch, virtual NIC, virtual router, and a virtual firewall. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is all about virtualizing the end-user desktops.
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