Server virtualization infrastructure and architecture Definitions

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  • A

    AMD (Advanced Micro Devices)

    AMD is the second largest maker of personal computer microprocessors after Intel.

  • B

    bare metal environment

    A bare metal environment is a computer system or network in which a virtual machine is installed directly on hardware rather than within the host operating system (OS)... (Continued)

  • C

    cloud-to-cloud migration

    Cloud-to-cloud migration (C2C) is the movement of physical or virtual machines -- along with their associated configurations, operating systems, applications and storage -- from one cloud computing provider to another.

  • Cluster Labs Pacemaker

    Pacemaker is an open source high-availability cluster software developed from a collaboration between Red Hat and Novell.

  • CompTIA Cloud Essentials

    CompTIA Cloud Essentials is an entry-level, vendor-neutral cloud certification.

  • E

    early adopter

    An early adopter is a person who embraces new technology before most other people do. Early adopters tend to buy or try out new hardware items and programs, and new versions of existing programs, sooner than most of their peers. According to a theory called Diffusion of Innovations (DoI) formulated by Everett Rogers, early adopters make up 13.5 percent of the population.

  • G

    guest virtual machine (guest VM)

    A guest virtual machine (guest VM) is the software component of a virtual machine (VM), an independent instance of an operating system (called a guest operating system) and its associated software and information.

  • H

    hardware emulation

    Hardware emulation is the use of one hardware device to mimic the function of another hardware device.  Microsoft's Hyper-V includes hardware emulation because the Integration Services can only be installed on certain guest operating systems.

  • hardware virtualization

    Hardware virtualization, which is also known as server virtualization or simply virtualization, is the abstraction of computing resources from the software that uses those resources.

  • hardware-assisted virtualization

    Hardware-assisted virtualization is the use of a computer's physical components to support the mechanism that abstracts and manages the computer's underlying resources from its operating system and the applications that run on it.

  • host virtual machine (host VM)

    A host virtual machine is the server component of a virtual machine (VM), the underlying hardware that provides computing resources to support a particular guest virtual machine (guest VM).

  • hypervisor

    A hypervisor is a function that abstracts -- isolates -- operating systems (OSes) and applications from the underlying computer hardware.

  • I

    I/O fencing (input/output fencing)

    I/O (input/output) fencing is the isolation of a malfunctioning node from a cluster's shared storage to protect the integrity of data.

  • Intel VT (Virtualization Technology)

    Intel VT (Virtualization Technology) is the company's hardware assistance for processors running virtualization platforms.

  • M

    memory overcommit (or overcommitment)

    Memory overcommit (or overcommitment) is a hypervisor feature that allows a virtual machine (VM) to use more memory space than the physical host has available.

  • N

    nested virtualization

    Nested virtualization describes the process of running a hypervisor within another hypervisor.

  • Network Load Balancing (NLB)

    Network Load Balancing is a Windows Server feature that can distribute network traffic among multiple servers.

  • network virtualization

    Network virtualization is a method of combining the available resources in a network to consolidate multiple physical networks, divide a network into segments or create software networks between virtual machines (VMs).

  • O

    OpenStack Foundation

    The OpenStack Foundation manages and oversees the development of the OpenStack open source cloud platform.

  • Our Favorite Technology Blogs

    A comprehensive listing of information technology-related blogs selected by the editors of WhatIs.com that cover selected industry verticals and technologies.

  • P

    Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM)

    Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM) is a program that enables distributed computing among networked computers on different platforms, so that they can perform as a single, large unit for computer-intensive applications... (Continued)

  • paravirtualization

    Paravirtualization (PV) is an enhancement of virtualization technology in which a guest operating system (guest OS) is modified prior to installation inside a virtual machine in order to allow all guest OS within the system to share resources and successfully collaborate, rather than attempt to emulate an entire hardware environment.

  • platform

    A computer platform is an underlying computer system on which application programs can run, or, in general, any base of technologies on which other technologies or processes are built.

  • PowerPC

    PowerPC is a microprocessor architecture that was developed jointly by Apple, IBM, and Motorola.

  • S

    server hardware degradation

    Server hardware degradation is the gradual breakdown of the physical parts of a server.

  • server virtualization

    Server virtualization is a process that creates and abstracts multiple virtual instances on a single server.

  • service virtualization

    Service virtualization is the process of creating replicas of systems that new applications depend on to test how well the application and systems integrate.

  • shared nothing live migration

    Shared nothing live migration is a term used to describe the process of moving a virtual machine (VM) from one physical host to another, without the need for clustering or a common shared storage location.

  • SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) 

    SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) is a 32- and 64-bit microprocessor architecture from Sun Microsystems that is based on reduced instruction set computing (RISC).

  • STONITH (Shoot The Other Node In The Head)

    STONITH (Shoot The Other Node In The Head) is a Linux service for maintaining the integrity of nodes in a high-availability (HA) cluster. 

  • storage pools

    Storage pools are capacity aggregated from disparate physical storage resources in a shared storage environment.

  • stretched cluster

    A stretched cluster is a deployment model in which two or more virtualization host servers are part of the same logical cluster but located in separate geographical locations.

  • V

    virtual

    In computing, virtual is a digitally replicated version of something real. The replication, which is created with software, may not be an exact copy of the real thing, but it is similar enough in essence to be described as a digital rendition.

  • virtual appliance

    A virtual appliance is a virtual machine image file consisting of a pre-configured operating system environment and a single application. The purpose of a virtual appliance is to simplify delivery and operation of an application. To this end, only necessary operating system components are included.

  • virtual file system (VFS)

    A virtual file system (VFS) is programming that forms an interface between an operating system's kernel and a more concrete file system. 

  • virtual hard drive

    A virtual hard drive file is a container file that acts similar to a physical hard drive.

  • virtual machine (VM)

    A virtual machine (VM) is a software computer that, like a physical computer, runs an operating system and applications.

  • virtual networking

    Virtual networking is a technology that facilitates the control of one or more remotely located computers or servers over the Internet... (Continued)

  • virtual private server (VPS) or virtual dedicated server (VDS)

    A virtual private server (VPS), also called a virtual dedicated server (VDS), is a virtual server that appears to the user as a dedicated server, but that is actually installed on a computer serving multiple websites.

  • virtual storage appliance (VSA)

    A virtual storage appliance (VSA) is a storage controller that runs on a virtual machine(VM) to create shared storage without the cost of additional hardware. 

  • virtual switch

    A virtual switch is a software program that allows one virtual machine (VM) to communicate with another.

  • virtualization

    Virtualization is the creation of a virtual -- rather than actual -- version of something, such as an operating system (OS), a server, a storage device or network resources.

  • VMQ (Virtual Machine Queue)

    VMQ (Virtual Machine Queue) is a type of hardware packet filtering that delivers packet data from an outside virtual machine network directly to a virtualized host operating system. 

  • VMware vCloud Air

    VMware vCloud Air is an Infrastructure as a Service offering based on VMware’s vCenter. VMware renamed its cloud computing service, which was formerly called vCloud Hybrid Service, as part of a larger rebranding strategy that coincided with VMworld 2014.

  • W

    Windows Azure Hyper-V Recovery Manager

    Windows Azure Hyper-V Recovery Manager is a cloud-based service that automates the backup and recovery of Hyper-V virtual machines (VMs).

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