Virtualization Essentials

CHAPTER 3

Understanding Virtual Machines

Virtual machines are the fundamental components of virtualization. They are the containers for traditional operating systems and applications that run on top of a hypervisor on a physical server. Inside a virtual machine, things seem very much like the inside of a physical server—but outside, things are very different. In this chapter, we will examine these differences, focus on how virtual machines work in relation to the physical machines they reside on, and take the initial steps in understanding how virtual machines are managed.

• Describing a virtual machine
• Understanding how a virtual machine works
• Working with virtual machines