Types of hardware virtualization Full partial , para virtualization
Hardware Virtualization
- Hardware virtualization is a technology that enables the creation of virtual instances of a physical computer system,
- allowing multiple operating systems to run on a single physical machine.
There are several types of hardware virtualization as follows :
- Full Virtualization
- Partial Virtualization
- Para Virtualization
Full Virtualization
- Full virtualization, also known as hardware-assisted virtualization, involves the complete simulation of a physical machine.
- Including the virtualization of the CPU, memory, and other hardware components.
- This approach allows unmodified operating systems to run within the virtual environment.
Example
- One notable example of full virtualization is VMware's ESXi hypervisor.
- It creates virtual machines (VMs) that can run various operating systems,
- such as Windows, Linux, or others, without requiring any modifications to the guest OS.
Partial Virtualization
- Partial virtualization, or software-based virtualization, involves virtualizing specific components of the hardware
- while leaving others to be managed by the host operating system.
- It doesn't completely simulate the underlying hardware.
Example of Partial Virtualization
- VirtualBox is an example of partial virtualization.
- It allows users to create VMs on their host system,
- but it relies on the host OS to manage certain hardware aspects.
- VirtualBox is suitable for running guest operating systems with minimal performance impact.
Para virtualization
- Para virtualization is a technique where the guest operating system is aware of the virtualization layer and cooperates with it.
- Unlike full virtualization, para virtualization requires modifications to the guest OS to optimize its performance within the virtual environment.
Example of Paravirtualization
- Xen is a hypervisor that supports paravirtualization.
- Guest operating systems running on Xen are modified to interact with the hypervisor directly,
- improving performance by avoiding certain virtualization overhead.
Conclusion
- In summary, full virtualization simulates the entire hardware environment,
- partial virtualization virtualizes specific components, and
- paravirtualization involves modifying the guest OS for better cooperation with the virtualization layer.