A virtualization manager, also known as a virtual machine monitor, allows multiple operating systems to run on a single host computer. It creates a layer between hardware and software applications, controlling how operating systems use hardware resources. There are two types of virtualization managers: bare metal architecture and hosted architecture. Virtualization managers allow for independent porting and management of software, load balancing, and dealing with hardware failures. They are distributed by various vendors, including Microsoft, Oracle, and VMware.
Also known as a virtual machine monitor (VMM), a virtualization manager is a type of software that allows multiple operating systems to run, unchanged, on a single host computer. It installs directly on the host computer and controls hardware, as well as guest operating systems. The virtualization manager is the most common implementation of virtual machine architectures. In fact, CP/CMS®, the very first virtual manager, was a time-sharing operating system (OS) developed in the 1960s by IBM and is considered the ancestor of the company’s z/VM® OS product.
A virtualization manager creates a thin layer between the hardware and the software applications running on the virtual machine. This level of separation allows you to control how the multitude of operating systems within the virtual environment use hardware resources. These resources include memory, CPUs, and network interface cards (NICs), among others. This is why the virtualization manager is often said to provide a uniform view of the underlying hardware.
There are essentially two types of virtualization managers. The former, which has been described above, is often referred to as bare metal architecture. Type two is known as hosted architecture. This differs from bare-metal in that it runs within an operating system, while the guest system runs on top of the hardware at a third level. Some of the most popular examples of this software are VMware Server and open source Linux KVM.
During the virtualization process, a virtualization manager places the operating system and its applications in an isolated environment so that it can be independently ported and managed. This allows the software to map and remap virtual machines to available resources at any time or even migrate them to multiple servers. It can also help balance the load across a group of servers; scale networks to higher capacities; and to deal with hardware failures. For example, if a server fails and a new one takes its place, the virtualization manager can remap the associated virtual machines accordingly. These features allow it to provide optimal performance while improving availability and security.
The growing interest in the high-end server hardware segment has led to the development of virtualization manager solutions designed for x86 instruction set machines. X86 represents a family of microprocessor-based instruction set architectures designed by Intel®. This is the same architecture used in most personal computers (PCs) and an element that led to the development of desktop virtualization. VMware® is known as one of the first vendors to introduce software that can virtualize your home desktop PC.
A virtualization manager is the core component of virtualization technology. It is the element that facilitates the partitioning of physical hardware and the management of virtual machines. Virtualization managers are distributed by a number of vendors, with Microsoft®, Oracle® and VMware® being among the most popular.
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