6.4.1 Virtualization

Learn what virtualization does and how to use it.

Traditional computing models grant control of the hardware's resources and devices over to the OS, and while that does grant blazingly fast performance speeds, it's inefficient. Most of the computer's hardware remains idle during typical use by an end user, even when they're multitasking.

This inefficiency is especially apparent when scaling things up. When companies purchase servers, they don't want them to sit idly when they could be during more computing work, offering more services, or responding to more customers.

Virtualization

Virtualization pools multiple OSs on the same physical hardware, each running independently of one another. These are called virtual machines, or VMs (sometimes also called guest OSs). All of these VMs running on the same physical machine increases the demand for hardware resources, boosting efficiency.

Implementations

• Hypervisor
• Virtual-Desktop-Infrastructure
• Virtual-Container (alternative)

Security Concerns

Security procedures for virtual systems should be the same, if not similar to those used for physical ones. VMs are designed for easy replication, so it's important to properly configure VMs for security. One bad configuration could be reflected across many VMs, which could lead to holes in security for attackers to take advantage of.

Virtual machines and networks should be mapped and documented, and should be stored in the same place that the physical network maps are. Never deploy internet-facing and internal services on the same physical device.

Common Components

• Hypervisor
• VHD
• vSwitch
• vRouter
• VFA
• vLAN

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