Guide to Understanding Hypervisors
What is Hypervisor?
A Hypervisor, also known as a Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM), is a piece of software, firmware, or hardware that creates and runs virtual machines. It separates the operating system and applications from the physical hardware, enabling high utilization and flexibility of hardware.
Why is it important?
The importance of Hypervisors lies in their ability to manage virtual environments, allowing for multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical host. This makes server deployments more efficient and cost-effective. They also enhance compute resources usage, infrastructure flexibility, and workload mobility.
How does it work?
A Hypervisor operates by assigning physical hardware resources such as CPU time, memory space, network bandwidth, and disk storage to each virtual machine. There are two types of Hypervisors: Type 1 (or bare-metal) and Type 2 (or hosted). Type 1 Hypervisors run directly on the system hardware, while Type 2 Hypervisors run as software on an operating system.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Hypervisors
1. Understand the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 Hypervisors.
2. Be able to explain how a Hypervisor optimizes resource usage.
3. Know the pros and cons of using Hypervisors for virtualization.
4. Understand how Hypervisors work in cloud environments for various applications and services.
5. Be aware of the security considerations when using Hypervisor-based virtualization.