Hypervisor : What it is, How it works

A hypervisor or Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) is a virtualization software , which provides an environment for virtual machines created.

Types of hypervisor

There are two types of hypervisors. Type 1 is running without additional software directly on the hardware. Type 2 is based on a full-fledged operating system. Type 2 hypervisor uses the device drivers of the operating system on which it runs. Type 1 hypervisor allows to use less resources, but must have drivers for all hardware itself.

The term hypervisor is used inconsistently, as it in some sources to Type 1 or Type 2 with paravirtualization is limited. IBM’s hypervisor generally use the term like type 1 and type 2. The first hypervisor provides full virtualization.?Hypervisor is often used to describe interface provided by the specific cloud computing functionality infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

Storage hypervisor

In addition there is the storage hypervisor, which is a management software for virtual storage infrastructures.

Etymology

“Hyper” is from the Greek meaning “over”. Visor” can be derived from the Latin “videre” deduce what “look” means. Translated Analogously, it is therefore a system that as “overseers” something or other systems “overlooking” or “somewhat controlled” – a feature that in another context, namely as monitoring is called, but has a different objective.

Examples of hypervisor

Server sector has adapted the development of hypervisors for machines using the Intel x86 instruction set, including for traditional desktop PCs.
Examples of hypervisors are Parallels Desktop for Mac,Xen, VMware ESX, Collax V-cube and Hyper-V.