Lecture-05: Virtualizations in Cloud Computing(CC)

 Virtualizations in Cloud Computing

Virtualization is a technology that allows you to create virtual, simulated environments from a single, physical machine. Through this process, IT professionals can make use out of their previous investments and optimize a physical machine’s full capacity by distributing resources that are traditionally bound to hardware across many different environments.

Used for decades, virtualization is a powerful technology within IT infrastructure that can be used to increase efficiency, retain flexibility, and improve scalability. Because multiple operating systems can share the same physical hardware, virtualization can improve resource use, reduce costs associated with physical maintenance, and boost security through isolated systems.

Whether you’re a virtualization administrator running test environments on your workstation or a large organization running a multitude of virtual machines (VMs) across your hybrid cloud platform, virtualization plays a key role in modern IT infrastructure and workloads.  

Let us understand virtualization by taking a real-world example:

Suppose there is a company that requires servers for four different purposes:

• Store customer data securely

• Host an online shopping website

• Process employee payroll systems

• Run Social media campaign software for marketing

All these tasks require different things:

• The customer data server requires a lot of space and a Windows operating system.

• The online shopping website requires a high-traffic server and needs a Linux operating system.

• The payroll system requires greater internal memory (RAM) and must use a certain version of the operating system.

 

Working of Virtualization

Virtualizations use special software known as hypervisor, to create many virtual computers (cloud instances) on one physical computer. The Virtual Machines behave like actual computers but use the same physical machine.

Virtual Machines (Cloud Instances)

• After installing virtualization software, you can create one or more virtual machines on your computer.

• Virtual machines (VMs) behave like regular applications on your system.

• The real physical computer is called the Host, while the virtual machines are called Guests.

• A single host can run multiple guest virtual machines.

• Each guest can have its own operating system, which may be the same or different from the host OS.

• Every virtual machine function like a standalone computer, with its own settings, programs, and configuration.

• VMs access system resources such as CPU, RAM, and storage, but they work as if they are using their own hardware.

 

Types of Virtualizations

1.    Application Virtualization

2.    Network Virtualization

3.    Desktop Virtualization

4.    Storage Virtualization

5.    Server Virtualization

6. Data virtualization

 

1. Application Virtualization: Application virtualization enables remote access by which users can directly interact with deployed applications without installing them on their local machine. Your personal data and the applications settings are stored on the server, but you can still run it locally via the internet. It’s useful if you need to work with multiple versions of the same software. Common examples include hosted or packaged apps.

Example: Microsoft Azure lets people use their applications without putting them on their own computers. Once this application is setup in the cloud then employees can use it from any device, like a laptop or tablet. It feels like the application is on their computer, but it’s really running on Azure’s servers. This makes things easier, faster, and safer for the company.

2. Network Virtualization: This allows multiple virtual networks to run on the same physical network, each operating independently. You can quickly set up virtual switches, routers, firewalls, and VPNs, making network management more flexible and efficient.

Example: Google Cloud is an example of Network Virtualization. Companies create their own networks using software instead of physical devices with the help of Google Cloud. They can set up things like IP addresses, firewalls, and private connections all in the cloud. This makes it easy to manage, change, and grow their network without buying any hardware. It saves time, money, and gives more flexibility.

3. Desktop Virtualization: Desktop virtualization is a process in which you can create different virtual desktops that users can use from any device like laptop, tablet. It’s great for users who need flexibility, as it simplifies software updates and provides portability.

Example: GeeksforGeeks is a Edtech company which uses services like Amazon WorkSpaces or Google Cloud (GCP) Virtual Desktops to give its team members access to the same coding setup with all the tools they required for the easy access of this team work. Now their team members can easily log in from any device like a laptop, tablet, or even a phone and use a virtual desktop that will run perfectly in the cloud. This makes it easy for GeeksforGeeks company to manage, update, and keep everything secure without requirement of physical computers for everyone.

4. Storage Virtualization: This combines storage from different servers into a single system, making it easier to manage. It ensures smooth performance and efficient operations even when the underlying hardware changes or fails.

Example: Amazon S3 is an example of storage virtualization because in S3 we can easily store any amount of data from anywhere. Suppose a MNC have lots of files and data of company to store. By Amazon S3 company can store all their files and data in one place and access these from anywhere without any kind of issue in secure way.

5. Server Virtualization: This splits a physical server into multiple virtual servers, each functioning independently. It helps improve performance, cut costs and makes tasks like server migration and energy management easier.

Example: A startup company has a powerful physical server. This company can use server virtualization software like VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V or KVM to create more virtual machines (VMs) on that one server.

 

Cloud Computing vs. Virtualization: Key Differences

Let's see the difference between Cloud computing and Virtualization: -

S.NO	Cloud Computing	Virtualization
1.	Cloud computing is used to provide pools and automated resources that can be accessed on-demand.	While It is used to make various simulated environments through a physical hardware system.
2.	Cloud computing setup is tedious, complicated.	While virtualization setup is simple as compared to cloud computing.
3.	Cloud computing is high scalable.	While virtualization is low scalable compared to cloud computing.
4.	Cloud computing is Very flexible.	While virtualization is less flexible than cloud computing.
5.	In the condition of disaster recovery, cloud computing relies on multiple machines.	While it relies on single peripheral device.
6.	In cloud computing, the workload is stateless.	In virtualization, the workload is stateful.
7.	The total cost of cloud computing is higher than virtualization.	The total cost of virtualization is lower than Cloud Computing.
8.	Cloud computing requires many dedicated hardware.	While single dedicated hardware can do a great job in it.
9.	Cloud computing provides unlimited storage space.	While storage space depends on physical server capacity in virtualization.
10.	Cloud computing is of two types: Public cloud and Private cloud.	Virtualization is of two types: Hardware virtualization and Application virtualization.
11.	In Cloud Computing, Configuration is image based.	In Virtualization, Configuration is template based.
12.	In cloud computing, we utilize the entire server capacity and the entire servers are consolidated.	In Virtualization, the entire servers are on-demand.
13.	In cloud computing, the pricing pay as you go model, and consumption is the metric on which billing is done.	In Virtualization, the pricing is totally dependent on infrastructure costs.

The benefits of virtualization

Virtualization allows hardware systems to function at their highest capacity. With virtualization, multiple operating systems can run alongside each other and share the same virtualized hardware resources for optimized efficiency. Teams can make more use of their computing resources to support important applications and workloads. Some benefits of virtualization include:

• Server consolidation: By virtualizing servers, many virtual servers can be placed on each physical server to improve hardware utilization. Server consolidation leads to improved resource utilization when resources are allocated to where they are needed because a host machine can be divided into multiple VMs. This approach takes full advantage of the hardware’s capacity. You can maximize space, power consumption, and maintenance by hosting multiple VMs on a single piece of physical hardware.
• Cost savings: Improved hardware utilization can mean savings on additional physical resources, like hard drives or hard disks, as well as reducing the need for power, space, and cooling in the data center.
• Isolated environments: Because they’re separated from the rest of a system, VMs won’t interfere with what’s running on the host hardware, and they are a good option for testing new applications or setting up a production environment.
• Faster application migration: Administrators no longer have to wait for every application to be certified on new hardware. Because VM configurations are defined by software, VMs can be quickly created, removed, cloned, and migrated. You can control a VM remotely, and you can automate the management of VMs.
• Efficient environments: During regression tests, teams can create or copy a test environment, eliminating the need for dedicated testing hardware or redundant development servers. With the right training and knowledge, teams can optimize environments to gain greater capabilities and density.
• Disaster recovery: VMs provide additional disaster recovery options by enabling failover that could previously only be achieved through additional hardware. Disaster recovery options reduce the time it takes to repair and set up the impacted server, leading to greater adaptability.