When a server is virtualized, many abstracted virtual instances can be made and run on the same physical machine. With server virtualization, you may hide the number of actual servers, the processors, and the operating systems.
Single-application computer hardware and software used to be the norm. This sometimes resulted in servers being limited to processing a single task, which led to the squandering of resources, including processing power, RAM, and hard disk space. In addition, as additional apps and services were made available to employees, the number of servers in use skyrocketed. As a result, data centers were stretched to their limits by rising prices and demands for space, power, cooling, and connection.
With server virtualization, a single physical server may host many independent and decoupled virtual servers. In addition, separate operating systems may be installed on each virtual server.
Market researchers predict that the value of the server virtualization industry will increase from around $7 billion in 2020 to about $10 billion in 2026.
How does server virtualization work?
Contents
A hypervisor is a software layer added to a computer during the virtualization process that works as an abstraction layer between the computer’s hardware, the operating system, and other applications. A hypervisor is software that controls and maintains a computer’s virtualized resources, dividing them into individual server instances known as virtual machines (VMs).
Server virtualization works by separating the hardware of a computer from the software that may be installed on that device. A hypervisor is a highly sophisticated piece of software that performs this abstraction. Business-grade hypervisors range from Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware vSphere to many others.
Abstraction is the process of assigning logical names to the computer’s hardware components, including processors, memory, storage volumes, and network interfaces. For instance, the term “virtual central processing unit” (vCPU) refers to a logical version of a physical processor. When a virtual machine runs, the hypervisor handles all the data exchanges between it and its corresponding real device.
While virtualization allows for the creation of numerous logical computers on a single physical computer, the number of VMs that may be produced is still limited by the host computer’s hardware and the processing needs of any business programs operating inside those VMs.
Newer, more powerful computers can host more virtual machines (VMs). In contrast, the number of VMs that can be hosted by older systems or those with more computationally expensive applications is generally lower. Although the hypervisor may overcommit resources (i.e., allocate them to more than one VM), doing so is discouraged due to the negative impact on computing speed that time-sharing has on all VMs.
The Importance of Server Virtualization
Compared to employing dedicated servers for each program or job, server virtualization is a huge time saver. In addition, it has several benefits, including fewer server requirements, less money spent on real estate and maintenance, and reduced resource waste.
- Quicker Server Setup & Provisioning: A dedicated server for each program often necessitates buying and setting up brand-new hardware. This may be a tedious process that may take many weeks. However, with virtual servers, there is no need to install a new server. Therefore, provisioning and deploying servers is quick and easy.
- Reduced Energy Use: By its design, server virtualization is environmentally friendly. Servers need electricity not simply to run but also to keep their components cold. By drastically reducing the number of physical servers required, server virtualization helps save money by using less power.
- Better Contingency Planning and Disaster Relief: Incorporating a reliable backup and recovery strategy is now less of a challenge, thanks to server virtualization. This is so because it is possible to relocate information or software from one server to another swiftly. In addition, many virtual machines may be housed on a single server (VMs). Because of this, setting up a replication site may be quick and easy.
Types of Server Virtualization
Several tried-and-true methods exist for virtualization, including VMs, para-virtualization, and OS-hosted virtualization.
- Full Virtualization: When a server is fully virtualized, it connects directly with the storage space and CPU of the actual server through a hypervisor. The hypervisor checks the actual server’s resources and maintains each virtual server autonomous and oblivious of the other virtual servers. It also transmits resources from the real server to the relevant virtual server when it executes programs. However, a hypervisor has processing requirements, which is the main obstacle to utilizing complete virtualization. As a result, application performance may suffer, and server speed may decrease.
- Para Virtualization: It is an alternative to full virtualization in which the whole network is virtualized rather than just individual nodes. In para virtualization, the hypervisor doesn’t have to use as much energy to keep track of operating systems since they all know about one another.
- OS-level Virtualization: Virtualization at the operating system level does not need a hypervisor. The server’s built-in virtualization software instead handles all the work usually done by a hypervisor. This type of server virtualization, however, requires that all virtual servers use the same operating system.
How do businesses leverage server virtualization?
Over the last two decades, virtualization has spread across the data center, proving to be a reliable and flexible technology. As a result, several organizational use cases, initiatives, and business goals may benefit from server virtualization.
- Centralization: Before the advent of server virtualization, IT workers had to keep track of programs and their respective servers. As a result of virtualization, IT administrators now have access to centralized dashboards that show them the whole landscape of virtual machines (VMs) and any alarms or issues that may arise throughout the entire infrastructure. As a bonus, virtualization tools may be easily integrated with automation and orchestration solutions to provide fully autonomous VM provisioning and administration.
- Production and trial run: While server virtualization is helpful for production settings and workloads, the agility and simplicity of virtual machine provisioning and deployment make it a strong fit for development and testing efforts.
- Compatibility with several different systems: All virtual machines use their operating systems. Virtualization has evolved as an easy way to handle different operating systems on a single physical server and across servers in a data center.
Conclusion
Server virtualization has advanced much in the last 20 years. The virtualization of servers is now widely seen as a commodity. It’s a standard feature of any serious business’s current IT system. Future server virtualization will not be determined by hypervisors but by the strategic goals that server virtualization enables.
To begin, server virtualization is compatible with most other technologies. Different types of hypervisors, such as bare-metal, hosted, and container-based, might coexist in the same data center to perform various functions since a single hypervisor might not be the best choice for every application. There may come a time when companies that have settled on a single virtualization platform for all their needs will find it necessary to install and maintain various hypervisor types.
Furthermore, it’s hard to imagine a company seamlessly switching from VMs running mission-critical apps to either containers or a serverless platform. Unfortunately, containers can only operate on one operating system at a time, so users with a mix of Linux and Windows will still need to utilize virtual machines.
Finally, there will be more synergy between conventional server virtualization and clouds and cloud platforms, making data center-to-cloud conversions less cumbersome. In the future, developers will weigh the pros and cons of deploying new workloads to a virtual machine (VM), container, or serverless architecture on a case-by-case basis.
FAQs
Q1. Does the cloud use server virtualization?
Yes, server virtualization is applicable in the cloud. Creating a digital duplicate of a physical machine, such as a server or OS, is what server virtualization is all about. The primary function of virtualization technology is to provide cloud customers with the most commonly used software versions. The cloud service must update its customers to the most recent software version as it becomes available. Server virtualization in cloud computing may be seen as the cloaking of server resources.
Q2. How is server virtualization different from a network?
In server virtualization, a single physical server is split into many smaller virtual servers, each of which may run its own operating system. Guest OSes are the OSes that are used in this context. This software depends on the host operating system to function.
A data network is a system of computers, phones, and other devices that work together to send and receive information. Servers and modems are two common types of nodes found in computer networks. As a result, endpoint users may more easily collaborate and exchange data using a computer network.
Q3. What is the difference between the cloud and virtualization?
Because they both focus on building practical settings out of intangible resources, virtualization and the cloud sometimes need clarification. But virtualization is a technique that lets you create many simulated environments from a single, real hardware system. At the same time, clouds are IT environments that isolate, combine, and share scalable resources over a network. Put another way; virtualization is a technique, whereas the cloud provides a place to host it. Virtualization may generate clouds after connectivity to an intranet, the internet, or both has been established; however, it is not the only option.
Q4. What is a Type 2 hypervisor?
Type 2 hypervisors, often hosted hypervisors, are VM managers that run as apps inside a host operating system (OS). In contrast, a type 1 hypervisor, also referred to as a “bare-metal hypervisor,” is placed on the actual host server hardware the same way an operating system would be.
A virtual machine monitor controls and monitors the Type 2 hypervisor’s virtual machines (VMM). A virtual machine monitor (VMM) program sits on top of the host operating system and provides VM access to the VMs. Businesses must consider the licensing fees when deciding whether to use a Type 2 hypervisor. Therefore, companies must pay for hypervisor licensing and ensure their guest virtual machines are licensed.