Virtualization is the process of turning a computing device, such as a processor, server, or other hardware component, into a virtual model, or a software-based resource, such as an operating system. Partitioning a hard disk during OS installation, where the physical hard drive is split into several logical disks to improve data storage and recovery (a category known as ‘data virtualization’), is the most common example of workspace virtualization
In this article, we have discussed the types of workspace virtualization and the benefits that companies can leverage from with this model
Types of Workspace Virtualization
Virtualization is classified based on the resource that is being created. There are various categories such as:
- Network virtualization
- Server virtualization
- Desktop virtualization
- Hardware virtualization
- Software virtualization
- Storage virtualization
Server virtualization is the most widely used of these. Server virtualization is the method of pooling resources from one or more physical servers and splitting them among several virtual servers. This is accomplished by the use of a specialized virtualization method known as a hypervisor.
Ideally, there are two types of hypervisors, wherein the first type is for bare-metal hypervisors that run directly on raw hardware, which are also called virtual machine virtualization. On the other hand, type 2 hypervisors are hosted hypervisors that run on a guest OS. VMware, Microsoft, and Citrix are the main players in the type 1 industry, while Red Hat’s Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) is the most widely used type 2 product.
Advantages of Virtualization
Virtualizing your environment will improve scalability while lowering costs, and the following are only a few of the many advantages that this remote access solution can have for your business:
1. Reduce Your IT expenses
If you’ve not invested in a virtualized workspace, the computer sits idle and can’t be used for other things, hence, a non-virtualized environment can be inefficient. When you virtualize a system, a single physical server becomes a set of virtual machines. Although both of these virtual machines are hosted on the same physical server, they can run different operating systems and run different applications.
Hence, by consolidating systems into virtualized environments, you will spend substantially less resources on servers.
2. Reduce Downtime
When a physical server is damaged, a resource will have to replace or repair it, which may take hours or even days. It’s easy to provision and deploy virtual machines in a virtualized environment, allowing you to duplicate or clone the affected virtual machine. The recovery process would take minutes, rather than the hours it would take to provision and set up a new physical computer, greatly improving the environment’s resiliency and decreasing downtime.
3. Increase Efficiency And Productivity
Your IT teams would be able to spend less time maintaining physical hardware and computers. Instead of going through the laborious and time-consuming process of installing patches site-by-server, you’ll be able to deploy, upgrade, and manage the environment for all virtual machines on the server. The morale and productivity of your staff would improve if you spend less time maintaining the environment.
4. Control Independence
Your developers can easily spin up a virtual machine without affecting the development environment because the virtualized environment is segmented into virtual machines. The developer can easily replicate the virtual machine and perform a test on the environment, which is perfect for Dev/Test.
Furthermore, if a new software patch has been released, your resources can clone the virtual machine and apply the current software upgrade, validate the environment, and then pull it into their development application. This improves an application’s speed and agility.
5. Become More Eco-friendly
When you reduce the number of physical servers you have, you can reduce the amount of resources you use. This has two environmental advantages:
- It lowers the company’s costs, allowing capital to be re-invested elsewhere.
- It lowers the data center’s carbon footprint.
Conclusion
Virtualization is an effective method for reducing operating costs, scalability, and performance while increasing cost management, scalability, and efficiency. Despite the fact that it was invented decades ago, virtualization appears to be a driving force behind corporate IT techniques. As businesses consider their IT modernization journeys, the value of virtualization is increasing rapidly, and the advantages mentioned here are just the tip of the iceberg. You too can leverage the benefits of workspace virtualization by contacting Accops for desktop and application virtualization solutions.