Benefits of Virtualization in Computing

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In computing, virtualization means to create a virtual version of a device or resource, such as a server, storage device, or even an operating system where the framework divides the resource into one or more execution environments (webopedia.com, 2014). Virtualization was invented by IBM in the 1960’s (Jansen, 2013). The first operating system that was shipped by IBM that included this software was in 1966 and in 1999, a startup called VMware released a product called VMware workstation. This product worked on regular PCs running Linux or Windows, and was targeted at developers and testers (Jansen, 2013). In 2001, everything changed when VMware release VMware ESX server. This server virtualization is a web technique which is used within enterprises to consolidate or integrate multiple physical servers into one. Along with server virtualization, desktop virtualization has been available since early 2000 but has seen slow growth in the market until the rise of cloud and BYOD (Presciutti, 2014). Although there are many reasons that led to the creation of virtualization, cost reduction and

space seems to be the two biggest catalysts. Generally speaking, in order to virtualize, a person must utilize a layer of software that would provide the illusion of a “real” machine to multiple instances of “virtual machines”.

Due to the fact that the number of physical servers is declining, companies are starting to save a lot of money. Firstly, they consume less electricity, both for the servers and cooling systems, and again, they take up a much smaller footprint. Something as simple as partitioning a hard drive is considered virtualization, since you are taking one drive and making it function as two hard drives. At this point th...

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...May 15, 2014 at < http://searchvirtualdesktop.techtarget.com/tip/The-future-of-application-virtualization-The-VDI-app-store-concept>

Presciutti, Laura. “NelsonHall Examines the Future of Desktop Virtualization.” www.forbes.com. February 11, 2014. Retreived from the World Wide Web on May 15, 2014 at < http://www.forbes.com/sites/emc/2014/02/11/nelsonhall-examines-the-future-of-desktop-virtualization/>

Jansen, Geert Jansen and Fishman, Alex. “The Future of Virtualization.” October 2, 2013. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on May 15, 2014 at < http://www.ravellosystems.com/blog/the-future-of-virtualization/>

“The Future of Virtualization, Cloud Computing, and Green IT.” Virtualization.net. October 20, 2010. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on May 15, 2014 at < http://www.virtualization.net/990-the-future-of-virtualization-cloud-computing-and-green-it/>

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