It’s hard to read anything from the hosting world without encountering the word “hypervisor,” especially if you’re looking into VPS. Individuals new to the hosting community, however, may need a bit of help understanding what hypervisors are and how they’re used. The concept is actually fairly simple. Hypervisors are the software that segments host machines into virtual machines. Hypervisors are also commonly referred to as “virtual machine monitors,” or “VMM” for short.
How do Hypervisors/VMM Work?
Hypervisors work by installing multiple instances (virtual machines, or VMs) on a single host machine. These instances are all capable of running independent operating systems but using the host machine’s processing power to function. Each virtual machine operates independently of the others around it. To clarify, when we say “host machine,” we’re actually referring to the actual machine that is being segmented. This is sometimes also known as the physical host.
Types of Hypervisors
There are two types of hypervisors. Understanding the differences between these will help a user to properly assign functionality and develop appropriate use-cases.
Type I Hypervisor: Type I hypervisors are deployed as bare metal before being installed to the host machine. That means that the first software installed on that machine is the hypervisor, which is installed as an operating system. This enables the hypervisor to communicate directly with the underlying physical server hardware. The server’s resources are then delivered to each separate VM that is running through a process called paravirtualization.
Type II Hypervisor: Type II hypervisors, also known as hosted hypervisors, are not installed in the bare metal system. These are actually loaded into an operating system that is already live
Paravirtualization Tools: As mentioned above, paravirtualization is the actual process of delivering resources to each VM that is running. Additional tools, such as drivers, may be installed on top of the hypervisor to help these processes run efficiently.
What This Means for Hosting
More and more hosting customers are turning away from traditional shared hosting plans and moving into the realm of VPS (virtual private server) hosting. There is a much greater amount of flexibility with this type of plan. VPS hosting is accomplished by segmenting servers into several virtual servers, called containers. At SemoWeb, we offer both independent and managed VPS plans.
If you’re interested in learning more about VPS hosting or how it works, give us a call at (877) 512-4678.
Luis Pichardo says:
Great article virtualization, in my opinion virtualization constitutes a great advancement that enables small and mid sized companies to have more control over their websites and applications without paying the hefty price and licensing costs of dedicated servers. Also hosting companies can take total advantage of their resources, so its a win-win situation.
Chad Stewart says:
We completely agree. VPS is a great option – especially for businesses. Thanks for your comment!