Types of Hardware Virtualization Full Partial, Para Virtualization
Hardware Virtualization
- Hardware virtualization is a technology that enables the creation of virtual instances of a physical computer system, allowing multiple operating systems to run on a single physical machine.
There are several types of hardware virtualization as follows:
- Full Virtualization
- Partial Virtualization
- Para Virtualization
Full Virtualization
- Full virtualization, also known as hardware-assisted virtualization, involves the complete simulation of a physical machine.
- Including the virtualization of the CPU, memory, and other hardware components.
- This approach allows unmodified operating systems to run within the virtual environment.
Example
- One notable example of full virtualization is VMware's ESXi hypervisor.
- It creates virtual machines (VMs) that can run various operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, or others, without requiring modification to the guest OS.
Partial Virtualization
- Partial virtualization, or software-based virtualization, involves virtualizing specific components of the hardware while leaving others to be managed by the host operating system.
- It doesn't completely simulate the underlying hardware.
Example of Partial Virtualization
- VirtualBox is an example of partial virtualization.
- It allows users to create VMs on their host system, but it relies on the host OS to manage certain hardware aspects.
- VirtualBox is suitable for running guest operating systems with minimal performance impact.
Partial Virtualization
- Paravirtualization is a technique where the guest operating system is aware of the virtualization layer and cooperates with it.
- Unlike full virtualization, paravirtualization requires modification to the guest OS to optimize its performance within the virtual environment.
Example of ParaVirtualization
- Xen is a hypervisor that supports paravirtualization.
- Guest operating systems running on Xen are modified to interact with the hypervisor directly, improving performance by avoiding certain virtualization overhead.
Conclusion
In summary, full virtualization simulates the entire hardware environment, partial virtualization virtualizes specific components, and paravirtualization involves modifying the guest OS for better cooperation with the virtualization layer.
