Virtualization in Cloud Computing

Virtualization is the process of creating a virtual version of something, such as a server, a desktop, a storage device, an operating system or network resources or Virtualization is a technique, which allows sharing a single physical instance of a resource or an application among multiple customers and organizations. In this article we are going to discuss Virtualization, working of virtualization and use of virtualization in cloud computing.

What Is Virtualization?

Virtualization is the process of creating a virtual version of any computer hardware or devices. It was initially developed during the mainframe era. It involves using specialized software to create a virtual or software-created version of a computing resource rather than the actual version of the same resource. With the help of Virtualization, multiple operating systems and applications can run on the same system and its same hardware at the same time, increasing the utilization and flexibility of hardware. 

How Do Virtualization Work?

Virtualization has an important impact on Cloud Computing. In cloud computing, users store files in the cloud, but with the help of Virtualization, users get extra benefit of sharing the infrastructure. Cloud providers take care of the required physical resources, but these charge a huge amount for cloud services which impacts every user or organization. Virtualization helps Users or Organisations in maintaining those services which are required by a company through external (third-party) people, which helps in reducing costs to the company. This is the way through which Virtualization works in Cloud Computing.

What Are The Uses of Virtualization?

• Business-Integration

• Service-Oriented Architecture 

• Data-Integration

• Searching Organizational Data

What Are the Benefits of Using Virtualization?

1. Resource Efficiency

Server virtualization allows you to run several applications each on its own Virtual Machine with its own Operating system on a single physical computer without sacrificing reliability. This enables maximum use of the physical hardware’s computing capacity.

2. Easier Management

This allows you to create automated IT service management workflows. For instance, automated deployment and configuration tools enable administrators to define collections of VMs and applications as services in software templates. This means they can install those services repeatedly and consistently without cumbersome, time-consuming and error-prone manual setup.

3. Minimal Downtime

Sometimes, Operating system and application crashes can cause downtime and interrupt users’ productivity. Administrators can run multiple redundant VMs in parallel and fail over between them when problems occur. Using multiple redundant physical servers is more expensive.

4. Faster Provisioning

Purchasing, installing and configuring hardware for any application takes time. Once the hardware is already in place, preparing the virtual machines to run all the applications is significantly faster. You can even automate it with management software and add it to your existing workflows.

5. Accessibility Of Server Resources

Virtualization delivers several unique features that ensure a boost to uptime, and there is less fault tolerance and availability of resources. Virtualization provides isolated virtual machines. Each virtual machine can have many guest users, and guest users could be either operating systems, devices, or applications. The virtual machine provides such guest users with an isolated virtual environment. This ensures that the sensitive information remains protected, and, at the same time, guest users remain inter-connected with one another.

Disadvantages Of Virtualization

• Clouds have a very high initial investment, but it also helps in reducing the cost of companies.

• As most of the companies have shifted from Servers to Cloud, it requires highly skilled staff who have skills to work with the cloud easily.

• Hosting data on third-party resources can lead to putting the data at risk, it has the chance of getting attacked by any hacker or cracker very easily.

Types Of Virtualization

1. Storage Virtualization

2. Server Virtualization

3. Data virtualization

4. Application Virtualization

5. Network Virtualization

6. Desktop Virtualization

1. Storage Virtualization

It is a set of servers managed by a virtual storage system. Servers do not know exactly where their data is stored, but work exactly like worker bees in a hive. It allows you to manage multiple sources and access them as a single repository. 

Storage virtualization software maintains smooth operation, consistent performance, and a steady stream of advanced features despite changes, disruptions, and hardware differences.

2. Server Virtualization

Server Virtualization is a type of virtualization where server resources are masked. Here, the central physical server is divided into several different virtual servers by changing the ID and processors. 

Therefore, each system can use its own operating systems separately. Each slave server knows the identity of the central physical server. It increases performance and reduces operational costs by deploying master server resources as child server resources. This is useful for virtual migration, reduction of power consumption, reduction of infrastructure costs, etc.

3. Data Virtualization

Data Virtualization is virtualization where data or files is collected from different sources and managed from one place without knowing more about the technical details such as data collection, storage and formatting, and then logically organizes the data so that its virtual view can be accessed.

4. Application Virtualization

Application virtualization allows a user to have remote access to an application from a server. The server stores all data and other features of the application but can still run on a local workstation through the internet connection. 

A user who needs to run two different versions of the same software. Technologies that use application virtualization are hosted applications and packaged applications.

5. Network Virtualization

Network Virtualization is the ability to run several virtual networks with each having a separate control. 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.

6. Desktop Virtualization

Desktop virtualization allows the Operating systems to be remotely stored on a server in the data center. It helps the user to access their desktop virtually, from any location by a different system. 

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. 

Conclusion

Mainly Virtualization means, running multiple operating systems on a single machine but sharing all the hardware resources. And it helps us to provide the pool of IT resources so that we can share these IT resources in order to get benefits in the business.

For more information, You can contact us anytime. We are eagerly waiting for your queries. At SupportFly, we provide cloud servers management. We offer a wide array of cloud services, solutions and features to cater to diverse business needs.

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Manish Lakhera

Best Server Support Management Company

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