Virtualization is the process of creating many virtual machines from one physical machine using software called a hypervisor. These virtual machines (VMs) perform exactly like physical machines, although they only rely on one machine’s resources for computing. Virtualization uses hypervisors to develop virtual machines from fixed physical servers, making the servers’ applications, computing power, and storage available to the virtual environments.
How Does Virtualization Work?
Virtualization allows IT firms to have multiple operating systems and applications running on a single server, or host. During operations, the hypervisor is responsible for distributing computing resources to each VM according to its needs. The virtual machine is a separate entity from other virtual machines on the same host and this allows many VMs to run at the same time without interfering with one another. This essentially means that IT operations can be made more cost-effective and efficient. In fact, such flexible resource allocation has made virtualization the cornerstone of cloud computing today.
What Are the Benefits of Virtualization?
Virtualization allows you to multiply your computing power using just one server or host. To understand just how useful virtualization from a third-party managed IT provider can be for your business, let’s walk through a few of its key benefits.
- Greater Efficiency
Virtualization allows you to make better use of your resources as it lets you have one machine serve as many machines. In fact, each virtual machine added will use more of the remaining server capacity. This means that you can use fewer servers and employ the ones you have to their fullest capacity, resulting in less wastage overall.
- Cost Savings
Virtualization allows you to run multiple operating systems, apps, and desktops on a single machine. Greater efficiency and better resource allocation results in cost savings on maintenance, hardware, and cooling requirements. It also results in lower expenses as less physical infrastructure is needed to carry out different functions.
- Increased Productivity
Virtualization helps eliminate the need to acquire separate servers from different managed IT providers. This means that you no longer need to rely on multiple vendors and that the management of your IT resources is far easier, which can result in increased productivity for your team long term.
- Improved Disaster Recovery
Virtualization allows you to easily recover and backup your data by using virtual machine snapshots of your existing servers. Automating the backup process is also possible to keep all your data up-to-date. Should disaster strike, you can easily migrate the virtual machine to a new location and restore your data in minutes. This results in greater business continuity.
- Better Testing
Given how easy it is to backup and restore your virtual machines, your IT team can experiment and test new technology with minimal effort and service disruptions. Testing becomes easier as your IT team can now test and run applications on one virtual server, without affecting the others – given that they are separate entities.
- Enhanced Scalability
By developing multiple resources from a single server or computer, virtualization improves your organization’s scalability. This is because virtualized environments can easily be multiplied without any limitations, which also allows for greater flexibility in terms of company growth. Moreover, there is no need to purchase additional infrastructure to run new applications.
Virtualization is important when you are looking to expand your resources and capabilities using just one physical server. Not only can you improve disaster recovery by using virtual machine snapshots of your existing servers, but you can also improve testing without affecting other servers or virtual machines in the process. Virtualization is also beneficial when it comes to increasing productivity as less time is spent on managing multiple physical servers and conducting maintenance on every single one. It is also great for when you want to scale your business as you can create as many VMs as you need, with hardly any limitations. Most importantly, you can realize greater cost savings because virtualization involves creating many virtual machines from just one piece of physical infrastructure.
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