UNIT-II INTRODUCTION TO VIRTUALIZATION

Definition:

Virtualization is a technology that enables the creation of virtual instances of hardware,

software, operating systems, or storage devices on a single physical machine.
It plays a foundational role in cloud computing by allowing multiple workloads to run
independently on shared infrastructure.

Virtual Machine vs. Virtualization in Cloud Computing

• Virtual Machine: A tangible result of virtualization, acting like a standalone

computer.
• Virtualization: The enabling technology that abstracts physical resources and creates
multiple VMs or virtual resources.
Virtualization provides the foundation for cloud computing, while virtual machines are the
products of this process, delivering isolated and scalable compute resources to users.

Examples in Cloud Computing

AWS EC2 instance, Azure Virtual Machines.

VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, KVM for managing cloud infrastructure.

VIRTUAL MACHINE:

A Virtual Machine is an Operating System or application environment that runs on software

that replicates special hardware.

The end-user experience when utilizing a virtual machine is identical to that of special
hardwaresoftware-based simulation of a physical computer, allowing you to run multiple
operating systems or environments on a single physical machine

“virtual” version of a computer with good amounts of CPU, memory, and storage that are
“borrowed” from a physical host computer (such as your personal computer) and/or a remote
server.

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Key Components:
1. Hypervisor: This is the software layer that creates and manages VMs. It allocates
physical hardware resources (like CPU, memory, storage) to each VM.
o Type 1 Hypervisor (Bare-metal): Runs directly on the hardware (e.g.,
VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V).
o Type 2 Hypervisor: Runs on a host operating system (e.g., VirtualBox,
VMware Workstation).
2. Guest OS: This is the operating system running inside the virtual machine, which
could be different from the host OS (e.g., you could run Linux on a Windows
machine).

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Real time examples:
1. Cloud Computing (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud)
 Example: When you deploy a virtual server on Amazon Web Services (AWS),
Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud, you're essentially running a virtual machine.
These VMs allow you to run web applications, databases, or entire cloud-based
infrastructures.
2. Software Development and Testing
 Example: Developers frequently use VMs to test software across different operating
systems (e.g., testing an application on Windows, Linux, and macOS) without
needing separate physical machines.

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Application Virtualization:
• Enables remote access to applications hosted on a server, while still running on a local
workstation via the internet.
• Useful for running multiple versions of the same software.
• Examples: Hosted applications, packaged applications.

Network Virtualization:
• Creates multiple virtual networks on a single physical network, with separate control
and data planes.
• Allows provisioning of virtual networks, switches, routers, firewalls, VPNs, and
workload security.
• Facilitates management by multiple independent parties.

Desktop Virtualization:
• Stores the user’s operating system on a remote server, accessible from any device or
location.
• Benefits include user mobility, portability, and simplified software management
(updates, patches).
• Useful for accessing non-Windows operating systems or specific desktop
configurations.

Storage Virtualization:
• Combines multiple storage resources into a single virtual storage system.
• Abstracts the physical storage location, enabling smooth operations, consistent
performance, and easier management.
• Helps manage data despite hardware changes or failures.

Server Virtualization:
• Divides a physical server into multiple virtual servers, each operating independently.
• Improves performance, reduces costs, and enables virtual migration and efficient
resource utilization.
• Reduces energy consumption and infrastructure costs.

Objectives of Virtualization in Cloud Computing

• Resource Optimization

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 • Cost Reduction
• Scalability
• Improved Flexibility and Agility
• Enhanced Security and Isolation
• Disaster Recovery and High Availability
• Simplified Management
• Faster Application Deployment
• Multi-Tenancy

Resource Optimization:

• Maximizes the use of physical hardware by dividing resources (CPU, memory,

storage) into virtual instances, improving efficiency and utilization.

Cost Reduction:

• Reduces the need for additional physical servers and hardware, lowering capital and
operational expenses related to hardware acquisition, maintenance, and energy
consumption.

Scalability:

• Allows dynamic scaling of resources up or down according to demand, ensuring

optimal performance and cost efficiency.

Improved Flexibility and Agility:

• Facilitates rapid provisioning and deployment of virtual machines (VMs) or services,

enabling quick adaptation to changing business needs.

Enhanced Security and Isolation:

• Provides secure isolation of virtual machines and environments, ensuring that issues
in one VM do not affect others, and improving overall security.

Disaster Recovery and High Availability:

• Simplifies backup, disaster recovery, and failover processes by allowing easy

replication and migration of virtual machines to different locations.

Simplified Management:

• Centralized management of virtualized resources through hypervisors and cloud

platforms, streamlining monitoring, provisioning, and resource allocation.
Faster Application Deployment:

• Speeds up the deployment of new applications and updates by quickly provisioning

new VMs and resources without needing to install physical hardware.

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Multi-Tenancy:

• Supports multiple users or organizations (tenants) on the same physical infrastructure,

providing resource allocation and isolation between them for privacy and
performance.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CLOUD COMPUTING:

• Increased Security
• Managed Execution
• Sharing
• Aggregation
• Emulation
• Isolation
• Portability
• Resource Sharing
• Performance Tuning

Increased Security

Virtual machines provide a secure execution environment, isolating guest programs from host
systems.
Harmful operations can be filtered, and untrusted code can be analyzed in sandbox
environments (e.g., Cuckoo sandboxes, sandboxed JVM).

Managed Execution

Features like sharing, aggregation, emulation, and isolation are essential for controlled
execution.

Sharing

Virtualization enables multiple environments within a single host, reducing server usage and
power consumption.

Aggregation

Combines resources from multiple hosts into a single virtual host using cluster management
software.

Emulation

Allows the executionn of guest programs in environments different from the host, enabling
compatibility with specific requirements.

Isolation

Ensures guests operate in separate environments, preventing interference and protecting the
host system from harmful activities.

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Portability

Virtual machines and applications can be moved and executed across different environments
without modifications.

Resource Sharing

Multiple virtual machines share a single host’s resources, improving hardware utilization and
reducing physical infrastructure needs.

Performance Tuning

Virtualization supports fine-tuning of resources for guests, enabling effective implementation

of Quality of Service (QoS) infrastructure

BENEFITS OF VIRTUALIZATION

1. Cost Efficiency
2. Scalability and Flexibility
3. Resource Optimization
4. High Availability and Disaster Recovery
5. Improved Security
6. Portability
7. Testing and Development
8. Environmental Sustainability
9. Simplified Management
10. Enhanced Performance

1.Cost Efficiency

• Benefit: Reduces the need for physical servers, lowering hardware, energy, and
maintenance costs.
• Example: Amazon Web Services (AWS) uses virtualization to allow businesses to
deploy and scale applications on shared infrastructure, eliminating the need for
expensive on-premises hardware.

2.Scalability and Flexibility

• Benefit: Resources can be scaled up or down quickly to match workload demands.

• Example: Netflix uses cloud virtualization to dynamically allocate resources during
peak streaming hours, ensuring uninterrupted service for users.

3. Resource Optimization

• Benefit: Virtualization allows multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical

machine, maximizing hardware utilization.
• Example: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) enables multiple virtual machines to share

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 the same physical hardware, optimizing server usage for its search and cloud services.

4. High Availability and Disaster Recovery

• Benefit: Virtual machines can be easily backed up, restored, or migrated to another
server, ensuring continuous availability.
• Example: Microsoft Azure provides automated disaster recovery solutions using
virtual machines that replicate and recover services during outages.

5. Improved Security

• Benefit: Virtual machines operate in isolated environments, reducing the risk of

cross-contamination between applications or services.
• Example: Cuckoo Sandbox uses virtualization to safely analyze malware in isolated
environments, protecting the host system.

6. Portability

• Benefit: Virtual machines can be moved across different physical servers or cloud
platforms without reconfiguration.
• Example: Developers using Docker containers can deploy applications seamlessly
across AWS, Azure, or GCP without changes.

7. Testing and Development

• Benefit: Virtual environments provide isolated test beds for developers to test
applications without affecting live systems.
• Example: Software companies like Adobe use virtualized environments to test new
features of their tools, such as Photoshop, before releasing updates.

8. Environmental Sustainability
• Benefit: Reduces the carbon footprint by consolidating servers and lowering energy
consumption.
• Example: IBM Cloud utilizes energy-efficient virtualized servers to support green
computing initiatives.
9. Simplified Management

• Benefit: Centralized management tools simplify the deployment, monitoring, and

maintenance of virtual machines.
• Example: VMware vSphere allows IT administrators to manage thousands of virtual
machines through a single dashboard.

10. Enhanced Performance

• Benefit: Virtualization enables fine-tuned allocation of resources to meet application

demands.
• Example: Salesforce uses virtualization to ensure its CRM services perform
optimally during high-demand periods, like end-of-quarter reporting.

TAXONOMY OF VIRTUALIZATION

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1. Based on Level of Abstraction
a. Full Virtualization
 Emulates complete hardware, allowing unmodified guest OS.
 Example: VMware Workstation, VirtualBox, Microsoft Hyper-V.
b. Para-Virtualization
 Guest OS is modified to interact with the hypervisor for better performance.
 Example: Xen (in para-virtualized mode).
c. OS-Level Virtualization (Containerization)
 Multiple isolated user-space instances run on the same OS kernel.
 Example: Docker, LXC, OpenVZ.

2. Based on Purpose
a. Server Virtualization
 Virtual machines (VMs) are used to consolidate multiple servers onto fewer physical
machines.
 Example: VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, KVM.
b. Desktop Virtualization
 Allows users to run multiple OS environments on a single physical machine.
 Example: Citrix Virtual Desktops, VMware Horizon.
c. Application Virtualization
 Applications are executed in a virtualized environment without installation on the
local OS.
 Example: Microsoft App-V, Cameyo.

3. Based on Hypervisor Type

a. Type-1 Hypervisor (Bare Metal)
 Runs directly on hardware, providing better performance and security.
 Example: VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, Xen.
b. Type-2 Hypervisor (Hosted)
 Runs on top of an OS, making it more flexible but less efficient.
 Example: Oracle VirtualBox, VMware Workstation.
d. Storage Virtualization
• Abstracts physical storage into a logical storage pool.
• Example: Storage Area Networks (SANs), IBM Spectrum Virtualize.
e. Network Virtualization
• Creates virtual networks independent of physical network hardware.
• Example: Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Virtual LAN (VLAN).
f. Memory Virtualization
• Extends physical memory by using virtual memory techniques such as swapping and
paging.
• Example: Paging, Demand Paging, RAM Disk.

4. Based on Deployment
a. Cloud Virtualization
• Resources are virtualized in cloud environments to provide scalable services.
• Example: AWS EC2, Microsoft Azure VMs.
b. Edge/Fog Virtualization

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 • Virtualization deployed at the network edge for low-latency processing.
• Example: IoT Edge Computing, Fog Computing.
c. Hybrid Virtualization
• A combination of on-premises and cloud-based virtualization.
• Example: VMware Cloud on AWS, Azure Hybrid Cloud.

PROS OF VIRTUALIZATION

1. Improved Resource Utilization

• Maximizes hardware usage by running multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single

physical server.
• Reduces idle hardware resources and improves efficiency.

2. Cost Savings

• Reduces the need for physical hardware, lowering capital and operational costs.
• Saves on power, cooling, and data center space.

3. Scalability & Flexibility

• Allows quick deployment of new virtual machines based on demand.

• Easier workload migration and system expansion.
.
4. Simplified Management & Automation

• Centralized management through tools like VMware vCenter and Microsoft SCVMM.
• Automation capabilities reduce administrative overhead.
5. Disaster Recovery & Backup

• Snapshots and VM replication enable fast recovery in case of failures.

• Easier backup and restoration compared to physical machines.

6. Isolation & Security

• Each VM operates independently, reducing risks of cross-contamination.

• Secure sandboxing for testing and development environments.

7. Supports Legacy Applications

• Older applications can run on virtualized environments even if the physical hardware
is outdated

CONS OF VIRTUALIZATION

1. Performance Overhead

• VMs share physical resources, which may lead to slower performance compared to
dedicated hardware.

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 • Hypervisors introduce additional processing layers.

2. Complexity in Management

• Requires expertise to configure and manage virtualization environments.

• Misconfiguration can lead to security vulnerabilities and inefficiencies.

3. Licensing Costs

• Some hypervisors (e.g., VMware ESXi) and enterprise virtualization solutions come
with high licensing fees.
• Software licensing can be more complex in virtualized environments.

4. Security Risks

• If the hypervisor is compromised, all VMs on the host are at risk.

• VM sprawl (uncontrolled growth of VMs) can lead to security and management
issues.

5. Hardware Compatibility Issues

• Some virtualization solutions may not support specific hardware features.

• Performance issues may arise if the hardware is not optimized for virtualization.

6. High Initial Investment

• Requires powerful hardware with sufficient CPU, RAM, and storage capacity.
• Initial setup costs for enterprise environments can be expensive.

7. Backup and Recovery Complexity

• VM snapshots and backups require careful planning to avoid data loss.

• Recovery of multiple VMs may require additional resources and time.

1. VMware
Overview

VMware is one of the most well-known providers of virtualization and cloud computing
solutions. It offers both Type 1 (bare-metal) and Type 2 (hosted) hypervisors. VMware’s
products range from desktop virtualization tools to enterprise-grade solutions for cloud
infrastructure.

Key Products
 VMware ESXi (Type 1 Hypervisor)
 VMware vSphere (Enterprise virtualization suite)
 VMware Workstation & Fusion (Type 2 Hypervisors for desktops)
 VMware vSAN (Storage virtualization)
 VMware NSX (Network virtualization)

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Architecture

VMware ESXi is a bare-metal hypervisor that installs directly on the hardware. It provides
a thin layer between the hardware and the virtual machines (VMs), which improves
performance and reduces the attack surface.

Features
 Live Migration (vMotion) – Move VMs across physical servers without downtime.
 High Availability (HA) – Automatically restarts VMs on other servers in case of failure.
 Fault Tolerance (FT) – Provides real-time VM replication with zero downtime.
 Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) – Balances workloads across multiple hosts.
 Snapshots and Cloning – Capture VM states and create VM duplicates.
 Security – Built-in micro-segmentation, encryption, and secure boot features.

Use Cases
 Enterprise data centers
 Cloud computing (VMware Cloud on AWS)
 Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)
 Disaster recovery and business continuity

Pros & Cons

✔ Highly mature and widely adopted in enterprises

✔ Advanced features (vMotion, DRS, HA, etc.)
✔ Strong ecosystem with extensive third-party integrations
✖ Expensive licensing (especially vSphere)
✖ Requires specific hardware compatibility

To use VMware on a Windows OS, follow these steps:

1. Download and Install VMware

🔹 Go to the VMware official website: https://www.vmware.com
🔹 Choose the right VMware product:

 VMware Workstation Player (Free for personal use)

 VMware Workstation Pro (Paid, with advanced features)
🔹 Download the installer and run the setup file (.exe).
🔹 Follow the installation wizard and restart your PC if required.

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2. Create a Virtual Machine (VM)

3. Install the Operating System in VM

🔹 Select the created VM and click "Power On".
🔹 The OS installation will start from the chosen ISO.
🔹 Follow the standard installation steps for Windows/Linux.

4. Install VMware Tools (Enhance Performance & Integration)

🔹 After OS installation, go to VM > Install VMware Tools.
🔹 This enables:
✅ Better graphics & resolution
✅ Smooth mouse integration
✅ Shared folders & clipboard
🔹 Restart the VM after installation.

5. Configure VM Settings (Optional)

🔹 Modify CPU, RAM, Storage, Network from "Edit Virtual Machine Settings".
🔹 Enable Shared Folders for easy file transfer.

6. Start Using Your Virtual Machine

🔹 Click "Play Virtual Machine" to start.
🔹 Use it just like a regular Windows/Linux system.
🔹 To close, select "Shutdown" inside the VM or use Suspend/Power Off from VMware.

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HYPER-V Virtualization Technology (Microsoft Hyper-V)

Hyper-V is Microsoft's virtualization technology that allows users to create and manage
virtual machines (VMs) on Windows-based systems. It is a Type-1 (bare-metal)
hypervisor, meaning it runs directly on the hardware, unlike Type-2 hypervisors (e.g.,
VMware Workstation, VirtualBox), which run on top of an operating system.

1. Key Features of Hyper-V

✅ Virtual Machine Management – Create and run multiple VMs on a single physical
system.
✅ Snapshots & Checkpoints – Save the VM state and revert when needed.
✅ Dynamic Memory Allocation – Automatically adjusts RAM for better resource
utilization.
✅ Virtual Networking – Configure NAT, bridged, and private networks for VMs.
✅ GPU Passthrough – Enable hardware-accelerated graphics inside VMs.
✅ Live Migration – Move VMs between servers without downtime (in enterprise
environments).
✅ Security Features – Uses Shielded VMs for protection against unauthorized access.

2. System Requirements for Hyper-V

🔹 Available on Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, Windows 11 Pro, and Windows Server
editions.
🔹 CPU with VT-x (Intel) or AMD-V (AMD) and SLAT (Second Level Address
Translation) support.
🔹 At least 4GB RAM (More for running multiple VMs).
🔹 BIOS/UEFI setting: Virtualization must be enabled.

Type : Systeminfo

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Step 2: Enable Hyper-V

🔹 Open Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows Features On or Off.
🔹 Check Hyper-V, including:
✔ Hyper-V Management Tools
✔ Hyper-V Platform
🔹 Click OK and restart your system.

📌 OR
Run this command in PowerShell (Admin) to install Hyper-V:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All -NoRestart

Step 3: Start and Install OS

🔹 Select the VM and click "Start".

🔹 Open Connect, and install Windows/Linux like a normal setup.

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6. Benefits of Hyper-V
✔ Built into Windows Pro/Enterprise (no extra cost)
✔ High performance and security
✔ Great for Windows-based virtual environments
✔ Supports Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD VMs

Drawbacks:

❌ Not available on Windows Home editions

❌ Less user-friendly than VMware Workstation or VirtualBox

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