IntroductiontoVirtualization

VirtualizationArchitecture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervisor
Ahypervisororvirtualmachinemonitor(VMM)isapieceofcomputersoftware,firmwareor
hardwarethatcreatesandrunsvirtualmachines.

Systemvirtualizationcanbeapproachedthroughhardwarepartitioningorhypervisor
technology

Hardwarepartitioningsubdividesaphysicalserverintofractions,eachofwhichcanrunan
operatingsystem.Thesefractionsaretypicallycreatedwithcoarseunitsofallocation,such
aswholeprocessorsorphysicalboards.Thistypeofvirtualizationallowsforhardware
consolidation,butdoesnothavethefullbenefitsofresourcesharingandemulationoffered
byhypervisors.Hypervisorsuseallowsfinegrained,dynamicresourcesharing.Because
hypervisorsprovidethegreatestlevelofflexibilityinhowvirtualresourcesaredefinedand
managed,theyaretheprimarytechnologyofchoiceforsystemvirtualization.

Therearetwotypesofhypervisors.Type1hypervisorsrundirectlyonthesystemhardware.
Thefollowingfigureshowsonephysicalsystemwithatype1hypervisorrunningdirectlyon
thesystemhardware,andthreevirtualsystemsusingvirtualresourcesprovidedbythe
hypervisor.

Type2hypervisorsrunonahostoperatingsystemthatprovidesvirtualizationservices,
suchasI/Odevicesupportandmemorymanagement.Thefollowingfigureshowsone
physicalsystemwithatype2hypervisorrunningonahostoperatingsystemandthree
virtualsystemsusingthevirtualresourcesprovidedbythehypervisor.

ImportantHypervisors

Hypervisor

Hypervisortype

KernelBasedVirtualMachine Type1
RedHatEnterprise
Virtualization(RHEV)

Type1

VMwarevSphere

Type1

MicrosoftWindowsServer
2012HyperV

Type1

CitrixXenServer

Type1

VirtualBox

Type2

VMWareWorkstation

Type2

Type1hypervisorsaretypicallythepreferredapproachbecausetheycanachievehigher
virtualizationefficiencybydealingdirectlywiththehardware.Type1hypervisorsprovidehigher
performanceefficiency,availability,andsecuritythantype2hypervisors.Type2hypervisorsare
usedmainlyonclientsystemswhereefficiencyislesscritical.Type2hypervisorsarealsoused
mainlyonsystemswheresupportforabroadrangeofI/Odevicesisimportantandcanbe
providedbythehostoperatingsystem