Week 1, 2

a. Virtualization

Virtualization is the process of creating a virtual version of hardware, operating systems, storage, or networks. It allows multiple operating systems or applications to run on a single physical machine by abstracting the hardware.

b. VMM (Virtual Machine Monitor)

VMM is software that creates and manages virtual machines. It acts as a layer between the hardware and the virtual machines, handling resource allocation and isolation.

Example: VMware ESXi, KVM.

c. Hypervisor

A hypervisor is a type of VMM that enables multiple operating systems to share a single hardware host. It manages the execution of virtual machines.

There are two types:

• Type 1 (Bare-metal): Runs directly on hardware (e.g., VMware ESXi).
• Type 2 (Hosted): Runs on top of an OS (e.g., VirtualBox).

d. VirtualBox

VirtualBox is a free, open-source Type 2 hypervisor developed by Oracle. It allows users to run multiple operating systems (like Linux, Windows) on a single host computer.

e. Virtual Machine (VM)

A virtual machine is a software-based emulation of a physical computer. It runs its own operating system and applications as if it were a real machine.

Each VM is isolated and managed by a hypervisor.