Time to read: 6 minutes 17 seconds | Published: July 14, 2025
Virtualization What is virtualization?
Virtualization is the process of creating virtual versions of physical resources, such as servers, storage devices, networks, or operating systems, by using software to abstract and allocate these resources, enabling multiple virtual environments to run simultaneously on a single physical system.
- How does virtualization work?
- What are the benefits of virtualization?
- What are the types of virtualization?
- Virtualization in Cloud Computing
- How can HPE help you with virtualization solutions?
How does virtualization work?
Virtualization is a technology that enables the creation of multiple simulated computing environments or dedicated resources from a single pool of physical system resources. This process is made possible by introducing a virtualization layer, which is a software-based abstraction layer that sits between the physical hardware and the virtual environments. This layer allows a single physical machine, such as a server, storage device, or network component, to be divided into multiple virtual machines (VMs) or virtualized resources.
At the core of virtualization is the hypervisor, a critical software component responsible for managing and orchestrating the virtualization process. The hypervisor interacts directly with the underlying physical hardware and allocates resources such as CPU, memory, storage, and network interfaces to each virtual machine. It ensures that the virtual machines operate independently and securely, while sharing the same physical hardware. The hypervisor also handles tasks like isolating VMs from one another, managing resource contention, and enabling communication between the hardware and the virtual machines.
Each virtual machine created through virtualization behaves like a standalone system, capable of running its own operating system and applications. For example, a single physical server can host multiple VMs, each running different operating systems (e.g., Windows, Linux) and workloads simultaneously. This abstraction ensures efficient utilization of physical resources while maintaining flexibility and isolation between the virtual environments.
In addition to server virtualization, the concept extends to other areas such as storage virtualization (abstracting multiple physical storage devices into a single virtual storage pool) and network virtualization (creating virtual network components like switches, routers, or firewalls over physical network infrastructure). These capabilities make virtualization a foundational technology in modern IT infrastructure.
What are the benefits of virtualization?
Cost savings and efficiency:
- Virtualization saves money by consolidating infrastructure and reducing hardware costs while saving space.
- It improves resource utilization and energy efficiency and optimizes infrastructure management for cost savings.
Scalability and flexibility:
- Virtualization allows rapid provisioning of virtual resources, enabling quick scalability to meet changing demands.
- It provides flexible and cost-effective resource allocation by efficiently scaling resources up or down based on workload requirements.
Disaster recovery and business continuity:
- Virtualization ensures data protection and high availability through features like replication and live migration, ensuring business continuity.
- It enables disaster recovery strategies like site failover, minimizing downtime, and ensuring data safety.
Test and development environments:
- Virtualization simplifies the creation of isolated testing environments, reducing conflicts and ensuring accurate results.
- It accelerates test and development cycles by quickly provisioning and replicating virtual environments, enhancing software development and testing efficiency.
What are the types of virtualization?
The following are the different types of virtualization:
- Server virtualization technology allows numerous virtual servers to run on a single physical server, optimizing resource efficiency. Because servers are designed to process a high volume of tasks, partitioning them so their components can be more efficiently used to serve multiple functions across the system can greatly benefit many organizations. Hypervisors, such as Type 1 (bare-metal) and Type 2 (hosted), manage virtual machines and facilitate server virtualization.
- Storage virtualization consists of a group of servers managed by a virtual storage system. This system manages the storage from multiple sources and treats it as a single storage pool, regardless of any hardware differences among the host systems. This virtualization makes it easier to perform backup, archiving, and recovery tasks. Storage virtualization involves virtualizing storage resources and managing data. Storage virtualization architectures and technologies enable efficient storage provisioning, data migration, and centralized management.
- Application virtualization decouples the application from the OS and hardware upon which it runs. The end user commonly accesses virtualized applications on a thin client, while the application itself runs on a data center server connected via the Internet. This can make it easier to run applications that require older OS versions or may put other system resources at risk.
- Desktop virtualization, also known as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), mirrors a user’s desktop environment in a software-based system that can be accessed remotely over the Internet. All the elements of the physical workspace are stored on the server, and end users have a similar experience regardless of the device they use. All user data and programs exist on the host server, not on the end user’s device. Desktop virtualization virtualizes desktop environments and user workspaces, providing flexibility and access from various devices.
- Networking virtualization separates virtual networks from their underlying hardware. Virtual switches handle all the management of the networks. Network virtualization makes it easier for administrators to allocate and distribute resources for higher and more stable network performance. Networking virtualization involves virtualizing network functions and resources to enhance flexibility and efficiency. Software-defined networking (SDN) and network virtualization overlays enable the creation of virtual networks and centralized network management.
- Hardware virtualization is the process of creating virtual versions of physical hardware resources, such as CPUs, memory, storage, and network components, using virtualization software (e.g., a hypervisor). This abstraction allows multiple operating systems and applications to run on a single physical machine simultaneously, as if each were running on its own dedicated hardware.
- Para-virtualization is another type of virtualization where the guest operating system is aware of the virtualization and interacts with the hypervisor to improve performance. This technique optimizes the communication between the guest OS and the hypervisor, leading to better performance. Hardware-assisted virtual machines leverage hardware features to enhance virtualization performance and security. Modern CPUs with hardware-assisted virtualization capabilities, are used to improve the efficiency and security of virtualization.
- Full virtualization is a type of virtualization where the VM fully emulates the hardware environment, allowing unmodified guest operating systems to run. This enables the running of unmodified guest OSes by completely emulating the underlying hardware. Lastly, container-based virtual machines, often referred to as containers, provide process-level isolation and share the host OS kernel, making them lightweight compared to traditional VMs. Containers offer lightweight, efficient, and fast deployment environments for applications, with examples being Docker, Kubernetes, and Linux Containers (LXC).
Virtualization in Cloud Computing
Virtualization is a core technology in cloud computing that enables the creation of virtual instances of hardware, software, storage, or networks, allowing multiple systems, applications, or workloads to run independently on the same physical hardware. This independence is achieved through a layer of abstraction provided by virtualization software, which decouples the physical hardware from the operating systems (OS) and applications running on it. By doing so, virtualization creates a flexible, scalable, and efficient environment for resource management and utilization.
In the context of cloud computing, virtualization abstracts and pools physical hardware resources—such as servers, storage devices, and networking components—and creates virtual versions of these resources that can be dynamically allocated, managed, and scaled. This abstraction allows cloud service providers (CSPs) to efficiently provision computing resources, such as virtual machines (VMs) and containers, to users on an on-demand, pay-per-use basis. Users benefit from accessing these resources without needing to invest in or manage the underlying physical infrastructure.
Virtualization is a critical enabler of cloud computing, allowing cloud providers to deliver scalable, flexible, and cost-effective services. By abstracting physical resources and creating virtualized environments, it supports dynamic resource allocation, workload isolation, and efficient infrastructure management. Whether through virtual machines for traditional workloads or containers for lightweight applications, virtualization continues to drive innovation and efficiency in the cloud landscape.
How can HPE help you with virtualization solutions?
HPE supports virtualization by offering a comprehensive hybrid cloud portfolio, simplifying management, optimizing costs, and enhancing performance. Their solutions include:
- HPE Morpheus VM Essentials Software: Simplifies virtualization management for KVM and VMware environments with features like high availability and integrated data protection. It helps manage and re-platform to HPE VME hypervisor, reducing complexity and optimize costs.
- HPE Private Cloud Business Edition: Provides agile, self-service private cloud solutions to simplify VM management across on-premises and public clouds, leveraging HPE's disaggregated hyperconverged infrastructure.
- HPE Private Cloud Enterprise: Delivers a fully managed cloud experience for bare metal, containers, and VMs, offering consistent cloud experience across traditional and cloud-native workloads with security and scalability.
- HPE Managed Services–Virtualization: Offers ongoing IT service and operations management through globally connected IT Operations Centers (ITOCs) that monitor, manage, and optimize virtualized environments, ensuring performance and scalability.
These solutions help businesses adapt their virtualization strategies, optimize current investments, modernize environments, and simplify hybrid cloud operations.