Technical devices and systems are some of the most important business tools used on a daily basis by owners, managers and employees.

While technology is constantly advancing, many businesses struggle to afford to update their technology on a regular basis, instead choosing to make do with their existing tech. It is largely because of this cost prohibition that virtualization has become so popular.

Virtualization is the moving of physical systems to a virtual environment, which is usually located off-site, and connected to over the Internet. There are many benefits to virtualization, including lower costs and extended life of your technology, which has made it a popular option with small to medium sized businesses. If you have looked into virtualization, you may know that there are numerous types. Here are four.

Operating system virtualization

Operating system (OS) virtualization is the movement of a desktop’s main operating system into a virtual environment. The computer you use remains on your desk but the operating system is hosted on a server elsewhere. Usually, there is one version on the server and copies of that individual OS are presented to each user. Users can then modify the OS as they wish, without other users being affected.

Server virtualization

Server virtualization is the moving of existing physical servers into a virtual environment, which is then hosted on a physical server. Many modern servers are able to host more than one server simultaneously, which allows you to reduce the number of servers you have in your company, thus reducing your IT and administrative expenditures. Some servers can also be virtualized and stored offsite by other hosting companies.

Storage virtualization

Storage virtualization is the combining of multiple physical hard drives into a single, virtualized storage environment. To many users, this is simply called cloud storage, which can be private (hosted by your company), public (hosted outside of your company e.g., DropBox), or mixed. This type of virtualization, along with server virtualization, is often the most pursued by companies as it is usually the easiest and most cost effective to implement.

Hardware virtualization

Hardware virtualization refers to taking the components of a real machine and making them virtual. This virtual machine works like the real machine and is usually a computer with an operating system. The software is ordinarily separated from the hardware resources, with the software often remaining on the physical machines. A good example of this is a Windows PC that runs a virtual version of Linux. There are different types of hardware virtualization, but this is the most common type used by businesses.

If you would like to learn more about virtualization and how it can help improve your business, please contact us today.