Virtual Machines (VMs)
What is a Virtual Machine?
A virtual machine (VM), also known as a virtual server, is a fully-fledged computer that mimics or emulates a physical computer and has its own hardware and software. Virtual machines don’t necessarily live within a server on a 1:1 ratio; often, several virtual machines can live within a single server.
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What’s the difference between a virtual machine and a physical server?
To the outside world, there isn’t an obvious difference between a physical server and a virtual machine. Although the virtual machine provides functionality that is similar to that of a physical computer, there is no interaction between the virtual machine and the host unless a hypervisor is implemented.
A hypervisor (also called a virtual machine monitor) is a lightweight software layer that handles mapping your computer’s resources into virtual hardware. Using a hypervisor allows you to allocate parts of your CPU, RAM, storage disk, and other components so that a virtual machine can use them to run properly.
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What are the benefits of using virtual machines?
Virtual machines were originally developed to enable users to run multiple operating systems, allowing for time-sharing among several single-tasking operating systems. However, there are several other benefits to running a virtual machine, including:
- Ability to test unproven software that is in development
- Improved debugging and faster rebooting
- Streamlined process to deploy software
- Testing environment that is a mirror image of your production environment
- Ability to run single purpose virtual machine to support a database, authentication services or log aggregation
- Ability to create high availability clusters and reduce downtime
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HPE and virtual machines
HPE provides several support options for virtual machines through HPE Infosight, which delivers AI-powered autonomous operations to help drive deep visibility and eliminate guesswork with VM- and data-centric analytics.
HPE also offers intelligent cloud and storage solutions for virtual machines through HPE Nimble Storage and VDI as a service through HPE Greenlake. HPE GreenLake is an IT-as-a-service offering that brings the cloud experience to your on-premises infrastructure and unifies your edges, clouds, and data centers.