Virtualization overview

Learn what virtualization is, the benefits of using virtualization, and the steps to follow when creating a virtual computing environment.

Virtualization is the creation of substitutes for real resources, that is, substitutes that have the same functions and external interfaces as their counterparts, but that differ in attributes, such as size, performance, and cost. These substitutes are called virtual resources, and their users are typically unaware of the substitution. Virtualization is commonly applied to physical hardware resources by combining multiple physical resources into shared pools from which users receive virtual resources. With virtualization, you can make one physical resource look like multiple virtual resources. Virtual resources can have functions or features that are not available in their underlying physical resources.

Virtualization can provide the following benefits:

Consolidation to reduce hardware cost
- Virtualization enables you to efficiently access and manage resources to reduce operations and systems management costs while maintaining needed capacity.
- Virtualization enables you to have a single server function as multiple virtual servers.
Optimization of workloads
- Virtualization enables you to respond dynamically to the application needs of its users.
- Virtualization can increase the use of existing resources by enabling dynamic sharing of resource pools.
IT flexibility and responsiveness
- Virtualization enables you to have a single, consolidated view of, and easy access to, all available resources in the network, regardless of location.
- Virtualization enables you to reduce the management of your environment by providing emulation for compatibility, improved interoperability, and transparent change windows.

When creating a virtual computing environment, you must carefully plan how your virtual computing environment will be configured based on workload requirements and available hardware. Sufficient planning can help you create your virtualized computing environment with minimal disruption to your existing systems, and it allows you to set up your virtualized environment on an incremental basis. For example, you can start by virtualizing a single system, and then move on to virtualizing multiple systems.

The following figure shows the key steps to creating a virtual computing environment: planning, deploying, and managing. Versions of this figure are used throughout this topic to help you understand to what phase the documentation applies.

An illustration showing representations the planning, deploying, and managing phases of creating a virtual computing environment.

Planning considerations, deployment steps, and management procedures are summarized and referenced from this topic.