Hardware virtualization. First meeting

Many IT professionals have repeatedly faced with such a notion as "hardware virtualization". And this is not accidental, because here we have to deal with the constant increase in the power of technology. What is virtualization? What does it look like? What are its main advantages and disadvantages? Let's try to find out.

The term "virtualization" means the process of presenting a set of strictly defined information data. As a result, there are advantages that are not available to the original system configuration.

For a more clear perception, it should be noted that the process is divided into two areas, one of which is virtualization at the OS level (software), and the second is hardware virtualization (server).

Until recently, software virtualization was more popular, as it allowed to obtain technological solutions. However, at this point in time, the support for virtualization (hardware) has intensified, which has allowed it to quickly shift its predecessor from the leading position. The decisive role here was played by the increase in the capacity and capacity of the system.

Hardware virtualization. Benefits

1. It is quite simple to develop platforms for virtualization (in comparison with the development of software virtualization). This gives an unconditional advantage over time when creating new platforms and reduces labor costs.

2. Simultaneous and independent launch of a pair of virtual platforms (with the preservation of the possibility of using each of them separately), which, accordingly, increases the speed of the system.

3. The possibility of optimization.

4. Simplify the management of the server infrastructure.

Hardware virtualization. disadvantages

1. High requirements for hardware solutions (servers).

2. High costs for the implementation of technology.

There are several different types of server virtualization. The first type is consolidation (the logical aggregation of several virtual servers within a single physical server), the second type is the combination of several physical machines into one (logical), the purpose of which is the processing of one complex task.

On practice Combinations of two types are allowed. Implement any of these types is possible only if you have the appropriate hardware (processor that supports hardware virtualization technology).

At this time, the most common are the options for building technology based on AMD and Intel processors. To find out which processor models support server virtualization, you need to go to the manufacturer's website and see the characteristics of the device.

In general, hardware virtualization is a very effective and simple technology for enhancing performance. To understand the scale of its power, it is enough to mention that the technology is used in industrial systems and medical devices, not to mention ordinary large companies with a huge fleet of technical devices that want to further consolidate their production resources.