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Virtual systems are software-based simulations of computer systems that run on top physical hardware. They can bring a variety of benefits to your business that include IT efficiency and cost savings.
Virtual machines can be used to test new software, or deploy Wikis and Jabber IM as well as create backup images of the current system to be able to recover faster after the aftermath of a catastrophe. Virtual machines can be replicated, or transferred to other physical servers in high availability configurations, minimizing downtime.
Virtualizing multiple systems could reduce the hardware and maintenance of servers as well as energy costs. IT personnel will spend less time performing maintenance tasks, such as updating software, as the virtual infrastructure is controlled by a central platform. This efficiency boost can allow your team to concentrate on projects that will propel your company forward.
Improved Data Security & Disaster Recovery
VMs are hardware-independent, meaning that they can be moved from one physical server to another just as easily as moving files on your desktop or laptop. This is especially beneficial when the original software manufacturer has stopped supporting an older piece of code, or the developer has been shut down.
The type of hypervisor used in a virtualized environment can make or break the effectiveness of its management. A hypervisor that is bare-metal, such as VMware vSphere or Microsoft Hyper-V, provides more control and independence from the host operating system. On the other side, a hosted hypervisor such as KVM (built into the Linux kernel) sends VM requests through the host OS to process them which could slow down VM performance.