Server Virtualization

Server virtualization is the most common type of virtualization and is also the most favored by both midsize businesses and large corporations. It refers to the coexistence of one or more “virtual” Operating Systems on one physical server, sharing the resources of one physical server across multiple environments with several operating systems, and a variety of applications, and can span several physical locations. Essentially, it allows one server to do the job of several servers realizing substantial cost savings and improved operating system resiliency and efficiency. LegaSystems’ engineers are experts in all three major server virtualization platforms: XenServer, Hyper-V and VSphere. This allows our customers to benefit from the technology of server virtualization on a vendor platform of their choice.

Types of Server Virtualization

As part of its IT consulting services, LegaSystems provides for three main types of server virtualization, namely, operating system virtualization (containers), hardware emulation, and paravirtualization.

Operating system virtualization (containers)

Operating system virtualization refers to the creation of self-contained representations (which go under the names of containers, virtual environments, and virtual private servers) of the underlying operating system for the purpose of providing applications in isolated execution environments. These virtual environments do not interfere with each other and benefit systems which must handle multiple users at one time. A popular example of the process of operating system virtualization is the logout command; when one user logs out of the system, it does not affect the rest of the users of the system.

Operating system virtualization is commonly utilized in hosting environments and server consolidation. Hosting environments (for example, online e-mail and other account-based systems) use virtual systems which contain multiple users that are logged on at the same time. However, since the users require very few resources, they are able to all log onto the system without exhausting it, and each user does not interact with or see the resources of other users. Server consolidation occurs when a new server has the ability to take on the jobs of several old servers and thus combines all of the resources onto the new machine.

Hardware emulation

Hardware emulation consists of a computer hardware environment in software which allows multiple operating systems (also known as containers) to be installed on a single computer. Acting as a buffer in between the server hardware and the operating system, the containers ‘emulate’ the features and properties of a physical box so that you can have multiple virtual machines inside a single box wherein each operating system has its own share of the overall server resources.

Paravirtualization

Paravirtuailzation is thin software layer that coordinates access from multiple operating systems to the underlying hardware. A paravirtualization operating system is designed to create an isolated execution environment for each virtual machine, thereby minimizing overhead and optimizing virtualized system performance.

Why Choose Server Virtualization?

Server virtualization’s overall benefit is its cost effectiveness. With server virtualization, there is no need for multiple hardware resources which saves on the cost of hardware components, physical space to store them and power consumption required to operate. With a virtual infrastructure, there is a high availability of accessible resources, improved disaster-recovery and better management.

With the benefits that server virtualization has in improving efficiency and reducing cost, it is advisable to engage IT consulting services that can aid your business in adopting server virtualization for the smooth daily operation of your enterprise. With proven success and expertise, LegaSystems can help you benefit from the advantages of server virtualization.