A Virtual Machine (VM) is a virtual environment that uses the physical hardware of computers.

What is a Virtual Machine?

The computer you are using runs an operating system, which could be Windows, macOS, or any Linux distribution. Operating systems can directly access and use the physical hardware of computers. For example, if your computer has 8 GB of RAM, all of it can be used by the current operating system. On this operating system, you can create virtual environments using virtualization, which allows you to use different operating systems by sharing your hardware. These environments, called virtual machines (VMs), use a portion of the physical hardware of the computer in a virtual manner. However, they operate just like a physical machine.

The operating system running on the physical hardware is usually referred to as the host machine. Virtual machines, on the other hand, are called guest operating systems. In short, multiple guest machines can be created on a single host.

Virtual machines can be used for various personal and commercial purposes, such as running software developed for old or different systems, testing developed software on different platforms, obtaining a secure environment to protect against malware, and using servers more efficiently.

How Do Virtual Machines Work?

To create and manage virtual machines, software called hypervisors is needed. Hypervisors virtualize the physical hardware and distribute it to virtual machines, creating completely isolated virtual environments. These virtual environments work almost identically to a physical computer. Users can install any operating system they wish on these virtual machines. A virtual machine is stored in a single file, which can easily be moved to different machines if desired.

Hypervisors used for virtualization are divided into two different types. Type 1 hypervisors allow virtual machines to use physical hardware directly. Type 2 hypervisors run on the host operating system and use an intermediary layer to access the hardware for the virtual machines.

Advantages of Virtual Machines

Virtualization and virtual machines offer many different advantages to users. Some of the advantages of using virtual machines include:

• Virtualization allows the use of multiple operating systems on a single physical machine simultaneously.
• It provides a completely isolated and secure environment from the host operating system and physical hardware. This allows potentially malicious applications and files to be safely opened in a virtual machine.
• In software development processes, virtual machines make it easier to test developed software on different platforms.
• They enable the running of software developed for different platforms.
• The biggest advantage of using virtualization on servers is that it allows the most efficient use of physical hardware. Additionally, virtualization helps to perform management processes more easily on servers.
• It contributes to reducing hardware costs by ensuring more efficient use of existing hardware.
• Virtual machines can quickly scale resources or be moved to another physical environment when needed, providing an advantage in scalability.