UNIT-II-Virtualization
Introduction :Virtualization in cloud computing is the technology that allows multiple
virtual machines (VMs) to run on a single physical server, each with its own operating system
and applications.
Key Concepts:
● Hypervisor: A software layer that manages and allocates resources to VMs.
● Virtual Machine (VM): A simulated computer system that runs on top of the
physical hardware.
● Host Machine: The physical server that hosts the virtual machines.
● Guest Machine: The virtual machine itself.
● Resource Optimization: Virtualization maximizes the use of hardware resources by
allowing multiple VMs to share the same physical server.
● Cost Reduction: Reduces hardware and infrastructure costs by consolidating
workloads on fewer physical servers.
● Scalability: Allows for easy scaling of resources up or down based on demand.
Benefits of Virtualization in Cloud Computing:
● Improved Resource Utilization:
By sharing physical resources among multiple VMs, virtualization ensures that
resources are used more efficiently.
● Reduced Costs:
Lower hardware and energy consumption, as fewer physical servers are needed.
● Increased Agility and Flexibility:
Virtual machines can be created, configured, and deployed quickly, providing greater
flexibility for cloud services.
● Enhanced Scalability:
Cloud resources can be scaled up or down easily based on demand.
● Improved Disaster Recovery:
Virtual machines can be easily backed up and restored, simplifying disaster recovery
processes.
● Simplified Management:
Virtualization simplifies management of IT infrastructure by providing a centralized
platform for managing virtual resources.
Characteristics of Virtualization
1. Increased Security -
● The ability to control the execution of a guest program in a completely transparent
manner opens new possibilities for delivering a secure, controlled execution
environment.
2. Managed Execution -
● In particular, sharing, aggregation, emulation, and isolation are the most relevant
features.
3. Sharing -
● Virtualization allows the creation of a separate computing environment within the
same host.
● This basic feature is used to reduce the number of active servers and limit power
consumption.
4. Aggregation -
● It is possible to share physical resources among several guests, but virtualization also
allows aggregation, which is the opposite process.
5. Improved Security Management:
● Virtualization can help organizations improve their security posture by isolating
applications and workloads from each other.
[Link] sharing:
● Virtualization allows multiple virtual machines to share the resources of a single
physical machine, such as CPU, memory, storage, and network bandwidth.
● This improves hardware utilization and reduces the need for additional physical
servers.
[Link]:
● Virtualization allows IT administrators to quickly and easily create, modify, or delete
virtual machines as needed, without the need to purchase and configure additional
physical hardware.
[Link] independence:
● Virtual machines are hardware-independent, which means they can run on different
types of physical hardware and can be easily moved between physical servers without
needing to reconfigure the virtual machine.
9. Scalability:
● Virtualization allows organizations to scale their computing resources up or down as
needed, depending on changing business requirements.
10. Cost Savings:
● Virtualization can help organizations save money by reducing the need for additional
physical hardware, lowering electricity bills, and streamlining IT operations
Q) Environments Taxonomy of Virtualization Techniques
Virtualization techniques can be categorized based on the type of environment they
virtualize or operate within. Below is a taxonomy that organizes virtualization techniques by
environment:
Hypervisor
● The hypervisor is a firmware or low-level program that acts as a Virtual Machine
Manager. There are two types of hypervisor:
● Type 1 hypervisor executes on bare [Link], RTS Hypervisor, Oracle
VM, Sun xVM Server, VirtualLogic VLXare examples of Type 1 hypervisor. The
following diagram shows the Type 1 hypervisor.
● The type1 hypervisor does not have any host operating system because they are
installed on a bare system.
● Type 2 hypervisor is a software interface that emulates the devices with which a
system normally [Link], KVM, Microsoft Hyper V, VMWare Fusion,
Virtual Server 2005 R2, Windows Virtual PCandVMWare workstation 6.0are
examples of Type 2 hypervisor. The following diagram shows the Type 2 hypervisor.
Types of Hardware Virtualization
Here are the three types of hardware virtualization:
1. Full Virtualization
2. Emulation Virtualization
3. Paravirtualization
1. Full Virtualization
● In full virtualization, the underlying hardware is completely simulated.
● Guest software does not require any modification to run.
2. Emulation Virtualization
● InEmulation, the virtual machine simulates the hardware and hence becomes
independent of it.
● In this, the guest operating system does not require modification.
3. Paravirtualization
● InParavirtualization, the hardware is not simulated.
● The guest software runs their own isolated domains.
● VMware vSphere is a highly developed infrastructure that offers a management
infrastructure framework for virtualization.
● It virtualizes the system, storage and networking hardware.
Other Types of Virtualization
1. Application Virtualization
2. Network Virtualization
3. Desktop Virtualization
4. Storage Virtualization
5. Server Virtualization
6. Data virtualization
1. Application Virtualization:
● Application virtualization helps a user to have remote access to an application from a
server.
● The server stores all personal information and other characteristics of the application but
can still run on a local workstation through the internet.
● An example of this would be a user who needs to run two different versions of the same
software.
● Technologies that use application virtualization are hosted applications and packaged
applications
2. Network Virtualization:
● The ability to run multiple virtual networks with each having a separate control and data
plan. It co-exists together on top of one physical network.
● It can be managed by individual parties that are potentially confidential to each other.
● Network virtualization provides a facility to create and provision virtual networks, logical
switches, routers, firewalls, load balancers, Virtual Private Networks (VPN), and workload
security within days or even weeks.
Benefits of Network Virtualization in Cloud Computing
Network virtualization in cloud computing offers many benefits, including increased
flexibility and scalability, improved resource management, and enhanced network security.
a) Increased Flexibility and Scalability
One of the key benefits of network virtualization in cloud computing is increased flexibility
and scalability.
b) Improved Resource Management
One major benefit of network virtualization in cloud computing is improved resource
management. With network virtualization, resources can be pooled together and allocated
more efficiently.
c) Enhanced Network Security
One of the key benefits of network virtualization in cloud computing is enhanced network
security. Virtual networks can be isolated and segmented to prevent unauthorized access,
reducing the risk of data breaches.
3. Desktop Virtualization:
● Desktop virtualization allows the users’ OS to be remotely stored on a server in the data
center.
● It allows the user to access their desktop virtually, from any location by a different
machine.
● Users who want specific operating systems other than Windows Server will need to have
a virtual desktop.
● The main benefits of desktop virtualization are user mobility, portability, and easy
management of software installation, updates, and patches.
4. Storage Virtualization
● Storage virtualization refers to the process of bringing various storages together into a
single entity.
● Such integration is done to enhance efficient working from the system, better security,
and easier management.
Types of Storage Virtualization
There are mainly three types of storage virtualization −
● Block Level Virtualization − Separates logical storage from physical storage at the
block level. (e.g., IBM SVC, EMC VPLEX)
● File Level Virtualization − Abstract the file systems from the physical storage. (e.g.,
NAS solutions like NetApp)
● Object Based Storage- Data as objects rather than as files or blocks. (e.g., AWS S3,
Ceph)
5. Server Virtualization
● Server Virtualization is the phase of breaking a physical server into multiple
virtual servers known as virtual private servers.
● Server Virtualization enables us to use resources effectively. In server
virtualization, it can remove the major cost of hardware.
● The main advantage of server virtualization is cost-effective because it can
divide a single server into several virtual servers which removes the cost of
physical hardware.
Types of Server Virtualization
The types of server virtualization are as follows −
1. Full Virtualization
● Full Virtualization uses a hypervisor to directly connect with the CPU and physical
server.
● It supports the best isolation and security structure to the virtual machines.
It is similar to Para-virtualization.
2. Para Virtualization
● In the Para virtualization model the simulation is trapping overhead in software
virtualizations.
● It depends on the hypervisor and the guest operating system and changed entry
compiled for installing it in a virtual device.
3. Operating System Virtualization
● Operating system virtualization is also referred to as system-level virtualization.
● It is a server virtualization technology that divides one operating framework into
multiple isolated user-space called a virtual environments.
6. Data virtualization
● Data virtualization is a data management technique in cloud computing that integrates
data from different sources into a single virtual layer.
● It creates a single, logical, and virtual view of data. The virtual view of data can be
access by applications such as web portals, dashboards, e-commerce, mobile apps,
etc.
● Data virtualization allows users to retrieve and manipulate data without knowing how
and where it is stored.
Advantages of Data Virtualization
There are different benefits and advantages of the data virtualization, some are discussed as
follows –
● Data virtualization integrates all your data sources and creates a single view and
allows real-time access.
● It provides best resource utilization by running multiple virtual instances on a single
physical server.
● Data virtualization solutions increase flexibility for data integration and support
cross-functional data analysis.
● It reduces costs by creating multiple virtual instances onto fewer physical servers.
● It provided user friendly interface to analyze and manipulate data.
● It reduces latency as it eliminates the complex data movement.
Difference between Cloud Computing and Virtualization
1. Cloud Computing :
Cloud computing is a client-server computing architecture. In cloud computing,
resources are used in a centralized pattern and cloud computing is a high accessible
service. Cloud computing is a payment and useful business tool, users pay for usage.
2. Virtualization:
Virtualization is a technique, which allows to share single physical instance of an
application or resource among multiple organizations or tenants (customers). It does so
byassigning a logical name to a physical resource and providing apointer to that physical
resourceon demand.
Let’s see the difference between Cloud computing and Virtualization:
[Link] Cloud Computing Virtualization
1. Cloud computing is used to provide pools and While It is used to make various simulated
automated resources that can be accessed environments through a physical hardware
on-demand. system.
2. Cloud computing setup is tedious, While virtualization setup is simple as
complicated. compared to cloud computing.
3. Cloud computing is high scalable. While virtualization is low scalable
compared to cloud computing.
4. Cloud computing is Very flexible. While virtualization is less flexible than
cloud computing.
5. In the condition of disaster recovery, cloud While it relies on single peripheral device.
computing relies on multiple machines.
6. In cloud computing, the workload is stateless. In virtualization, the workload is stateful.
7. The total cost of cloud computing is higher The total cost of virtualization is lower
than virtualization. than Cloud Computing.
8. Cloud computing requires many dedicated While single dedicated hardware can do a
hardware. great job in it.
9. Cloud computing provides unlimited storage While storage space depends on physical
space. server capacity in virtualization.
10. Cloud computing is of two types : Public Virtualization is of two types : Hardware
cloud and Private cloud. virtualization and Application
virtualization.
11. In Cloud Computing, Configuration is image In Virtualization, Configuration is
based. template based.
12. In cloud computing, we utilize the entire In Virtualization, the entire servers are
server capacity and the entire servers are on-demand.
consolidated.
13. In cloud computing, the pricing pay as you go In Virtualization, the pricing is totally
model, and consumption is the metric on dependent on infrastructure costs.
which billing is done.
PROS AND CONS OF VIRTUALIZATION
Pros of Virtualization
1. Better Resource Utilization
○ Multiple virtual machines (VMs) can run on a single physical machine,
maximizing hardware usage.
2. Cost Efficiency
○ Reduces the need for physical hardware, lowering capital and operational costs
(power, cooling, maintenance).
3. Scalability & Flexibility
○ Easily deploy, scale, or clone virtual machines as needed without new hardware.
4. Isolation
○ VMs are isolated from each other, improving security and minimizing system
crashes affecting others.
5. Disaster Recovery & Backup
○ Easier to create snapshots and backups, and to migrate systems for disaster
recovery.
6. Simplified Management
○ Centralized management tools help in monitoring and managing VMs efficiently.
7. Test & Development Environment
○ Ideal for safely testing software, configurations, and updates without affecting
production systems.
Cons of Virtualization
1. Performance Overhead
○ VMs may perform slightly slower than dedicated physical systems due to
resource sharing and hypervisor overhead.
2. Upfront Cost for Setup
○ Initial costs for virtualization software, licensing, and training may be high.
3. Complexity in Management
○ Requires skilled administrators and more complex infrastructure planning.
4. Security Risks
○ If the hypervisor is compromised, it may lead to breaches across all VMs.
5. Not Suitable for All Workloads
○ High-performance applications or hardware-dependent software may not perform
optimally in virtual environments.
6. Resource Contention
○ Improper allocation can lead to resource bottlenecks among VMs on the same
host.
