Virtualization Basics

A virtual machine is a software computer that, like a physical computer, runs an operating system and applications.
The hypervisor serves as a platform for running virtual machines and allows for the consolidation of computing
resources.
Each virtual machine contains its own virtual, or software-based, hardware, including a virtual CPU, memory, hard
disk, and network interface card.
Software called the hypervisor is installed on the physical hardware in a virtualized datacenter, and acts as a platform
for virtual machines. ESXi is the hypervisor in a vSphere environment. The hypervisor provides physical hardware
resources dynamically to virtual machines as needed to support the operation of the virtual machines. The hypervisor
allows virtual machines to operate with a degree of independence from the underlying physical hardware. For
example, a virtual machine can be moved from one physical host to another, or its virtual disks can be moved from
one type of storage to another, without affecting the functioning of the virtual machine.
Because virtual machines are decoupled from specific underlying physical hardware, virtualization allows you to
consolidate physical computing resources such as CPUs, memory, storage, and networking into pools of resources
that can be dynamically and flexibly made available to virtual machines. With appropriate management software,
such as vCenter Server, you can also use a number of features that increase the availability and security of your
virtual infrastructure.
CPU Virtualization Basics
CPU virtualization emphasizes performance and runs directly on the processor whenever possible. The underlying
physical resources are used whenever possible and the virtualization layer runs instructions only as needed to make
virtual machines operate as if they were running directly on a physical machine.
CPU virtualization is not the same thing as emulation. With emulation, all operations are run in software by an
emulator. A software emulator allows programs to run on a computer system other than the one for which they were
originally written. The emulator does this by emulating, or reproducing, the original computers behavior by accepting
the same data or inputs and achieving the same results. Emulation provides portability and runs software designed
for one platform across several platforms.
When CPU resources are overcommitted, the ESX/ESXi host time-slices the physical processors across all virtual
machines so each virtual machine runs as if it has its specified number of virtual processors. When an ESX/ESXi host
runs multiple virtual machines, it allocates to each virtual machine a share of the physical resources. With the default
resource allocation settings, all virtual machines associated with the same host receive an equal share of CPU per
virtual CPU. This means that a single-processor virtual machines is assigned only half of the resources of a dual-
processor virtual machine.
Several Intel CPUs come with the Intel Virtualization Technology (VT). Formerly known as Vanderpool, this technology
enables a CPU to act as if you have several independent computers, in order to enable several operating systems to
run at the same time on the same machine. In this tutorial we will explain everything you need to know about this
technology. Intels virtualization technology is available in two versions: VT-x, for x86 processors; and VT-i, for Itanium
(i.e., IA-64) processors. In this tutorial we will be covering the details of the VT-x technology.
You may confuse virtualization with multitasking, multi-core, or Hyper-Threading. When multitasking, there is a single
operating system and several programs running at the same time. With virtualization, you can have several operating
systems running in parallel, each one with several programs running. Each operating system runs on a virtual
machine, i.e., each operating system thinks it is running on a completely independent computer. Multi-core technology
allows a single processor to have more than one physical processor inside. For example, a computer with one dual-
core processor acts as if it were a computer with two CPUs installed, working under a mode called symmetrical
multiprocessing (SMP). Even though multi-core CPUs have more than one processor inside, they cannot be used
independently. The operating system is run by the first CPU core, and the additional cores the CPU may have must be
used by the same operating system. So, based on any explanation, there is no difference between a single-core CPU
and a multi-core one.
Hyper-Threading technology simulates an additional processor per CPU core. For example, a dual- core CPU with
Hyper-Threading technology is seen by the operating system as if it were a quad-core CPU. These additional
processors cannot run separate operating systems, so for the operating system the Hyper-Threading technology has
the same effect as the multi-core technology.
Hyper-Threading technology simulates an additional processor per CPU core. For example, a dual- core CPU with
Hyper-Threading technology is seen by the operating system as if it were a quad-core CPU. These additional
processors cannot run separate operating systems, so for the operating system the Hyper-Threading technology has
the same effect as the multi-core technology.
Even though the Intel Virtualization Technology was released in 2005, not all current processors from Intel support this
technology. The easiest way to verify if your CPU supports this technology is to run the Intel Processor Identification
Utility. After you download and install this program, run it and go to the CPU Technologies tab. There you will see,
besides Intel (R) Virtualization Technology, whether your CPU supports it or not. Also, you can see whether your CPU
supports the Extended Page Tables (EPT), besides Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables.