Networking For Dummies, 11th Edition

Chapter 10

Virtual Networking

IN THIS CHAPTER

Examining the basics of virtualization

Weighing the benefits of virtualization

Looking at what a hypervisor does

Considering how disks and networks are virtualized

Activating Hyper-V

Creating and using virtual machines

Virtualization is one of the hottest trends in networking today. According to some industry pundits, virtualization is the best thing to happen to computers since the invention of the transistor. If you haven’t already begun to virtualize your network, you’re standing on the platform watching as the train is pulling out.

This chapter is a brief introduction to virtualization, with an emphasis on using it to leverage your network server hardware to provide more servers using less hardware. In addition to the general concepts of virtualization, you find out how to experiment with virtualization by activating Microsoft’s Hyper-V, which is a free virtualization product included with Windows.

Understanding Virtualization

The basic idea behind virtualization is to use software to simulate the existence of hardware. This powerful idea enables you to run more than one independent computer system on a single physical computer system. Suppose that your organization requires a total of 12 servers to meet its needs. You could run each of these 12 servers on a separate computer, in which case you would have 12 computers in your server room, or you could use virtualization to run these 12 servers on just 2 computers. In effect, ...