When virtualization segments a physical machine, each virtualization instance is a virtual machine (VM). This eliminates costs associated with buying and maintaining underused servers and saves your organization money. When you apply virtualization techniques efficiently, you cut your hardware needs by maximizing available machine capacity. Developers can then run many independent operating systems on the same hardware. Software abstraction layers effectively segment one computer into several “virtual” machines. The virtualization computing approach enables a single physical machine to act as multiple virtual computers. In this article, we examine virtualization in more detail and break down its main benefits. Dividing your physical machines into many virtual instances puts every last bit of your server capacity to work. With virtualization, we leave this myopic view of server management in the dust. All too often, a “one server, one purpose” mindset leads IT departments to waste server capacity. Despite the cost, many businesses squander their precious processing power.
Yet this old-school idea has never been more relevant. In computer science terms, it is about as old as the hills.
Virtualization has been with us since the 1960s.
