Virtualization

Terms related to virtualization, including definitions about virtualization technologies and words and phrases about server virtualization, desktop virtualization and storage virtualization.
  • agnostic - Agnostic, in an information technology (IT) context, refers to something that is generalized so that it is interoperable among various systems.
  • Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a web-based service that enables businesses to run application programs in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) public cloud.
  • Amazon Machine Image (AMI) - An Amazon Machine Image (AMI) is a master image for the creation of virtual servers -- known as EC2 instances -- in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) environment.
  • Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) - Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is a scalable, high-speed, web-based cloud storage service.
  • AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) - Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is a semiconductor company, known for designing and developing computer processors and graphics technologies.
  • AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) - AMD-V (AMD Virtualization) technology refers to a set of hardware extensions and on-chip features for the AMD family of x86 microprocessors.
  • application containerization (app containerization) - Application containerization is a virtualization technology that works at the operating system (OS) level.
  • application layering (app layering) - Application layering (app layering) is a technology for delivering virtual applications that run in layers separate from a virtual desktop, but interact with the operating system and other apps as if they are installed natively on the base image.
  • application sandboxing - Application sandboxing, also called application containerization, is an approach to software development and management and mobile application management (MAM) that limits the environments in which certain code can execute.
  • AWS On-Demand Instances (Amazon Web Services On-Demand Instances) - AWS On-Demand Instances (Amazon Web Services On-Demand Instances) are virtual servers that run in AWS Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) or AWS Relational Database Service (RDS) and are purchased at a fixed rate per hour.
  • bare-metal hypervisor (Type 1 hypervisor) - A bare-metal hypervisor, also known as a Type 1 hypervisor, is virtualization software that has been installed directly onto the computing hardware.
  • bare-metal provisioning - Bare-metal provisioning is the process of installing an operating system (OS) or Type 1 hypervisor directly on a computer's hard disk.
  • Changed Block Tracking (CBT) - VMware Changed Block Tracking is an incremental backup technology for virtual machines (VMs), comparable to snapshot differential or backup delta block.
  • Citrix - Citrix Systems is a U.
  • Citrix DesktopPlayer - Citrix DesktopPlayer is a desktop virtualization platform with a Type 2 hypervisor that administrators install locally on top of a Windows or Mac OS X operating system.
  • Citrix HDX 3D Pro - Citrix HDX 3D Pro is a group of graphics acceleration technologies that help optimize the delivery of resource-intensive virtual applications on a company's XenDesktop and XenApp platforms.
  • Citrix StoreFront - Citrix StoreFront is an enterprise application store that provides an interface for users to access Citrix Virtual Apps -- formerly XenApp apps -- and Citrix Virtual Desktops -- formerly XenDesktop -- remotely.
  • Citrix Workspace app (Citrix Receiver) - Citrix Receiver was renamed the Citrix Workspace app in 2018.
  • Citrix XenApp - Citrix XenApp, now called Citrix Virtual Apps, was a product that extends Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Host (formerly known as Terminal Services) desktop sessions and applications to users through the Citrix HDX protocol.
  • Cloud Foundry - Cloud Foundry is an open source cloud platform as a service (PaaS) on which developers can build, deploy, run and scale applications.
  • cloud provisioning - Cloud provisioning is the allocation of a cloud provider's resources and services to a customer.
  • cluster quorum disk - A cluster quorum disk is the storage medium on which the configuration database is stored for a cluster computing network.
  • container (disambiguation) - This page explains how the term container is used in software development, storage, data center management and mobile device management.
  • containers as a service (CaaS) - Containers as a service (CaaS) is a cloud-based service that provides a secure environment for running containerized applications.
  • ControlUp - ControlUp is a monitoring software company that sells tools IT professionals can use to manage, monitor and analyze virtual desktop and application performance.
  • dedicated cloud - A dedicated cloud is a single-tenant cloud infrastructure, which essentially acts as an isolated, single-tenant public cloud.
  • desktop as a service (DaaS) - Desktop as a service (DaaS) is a cloud computing offering in which a third party hosts the back end of a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) deployment.
  • desktop virtualization - Desktop virtualization is the concept of isolating a logical operating system (OS) instance from the client used to access it.
  • digital workspace - A digital workspace is an integrated technology framework that centralizes the management of an enterprise's applications, data and endpoints, allowing employees to collaborate and work remotely.
  • diskpart (Disk Partition Utility) - Diskpart is a command line utility in Windows operating systems (OSs) that is used to manage disks, partitions, and volumes.
  • Docker Engine - Docker Engine is the underlying client-server technology that supports the tasks and workflows involved in building, shipping and running containerized applications using Docker's components and services.
  • Docker image - A Docker image is a file used to execute code in a Docker container.
  • Docker Swarm - Docker Swarm is a container orchestration tool for clustering and scheduling Docker containers.
  • edge data center - An edge data center is a small data center that is located close to the edge of a network.
  • edge virtualization - Edge virtualization is the practice of using software versions of physical computing resources at the edge of a network, closest to the devices that produce data.
  • EG Innovations - EG Innovations is an end-user experience and infrastructure monitoring software vendor best known for its EG Enterprise product.
  • embedded hypervisor - An embedded hypervisor is a hypervisor that is programmed (embedded) directly into a processor, personal computer (PC) or server.
  • failover cluster - In computing, a failover cluster refers to a group of independent servers that work together to maintain high availability of applications and services.
  • Google App Engine - Google App Engine (GAE) is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) product that enables web app developers and enterprises to build, deploy and host scalable, high-performance applications in Google's fully managed cloud environment without having to worry about infrastructure provisioning or management.
  • Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) - Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is a managed Kubernetes service for containers and container clusters running on Google Cloud infrastructure.
  • graphics processing unit (GPU) - A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a computer chip that renders graphics and images by performing rapid mathematical calculations.
  • guest operating system (guest OS) - A guest operating system is the operating system installed on either a virtual machine (VM) or partitioned disk.
  • guest virtual machine (guest VM) - A guest virtual machine (VM) is the software component of a VM, an independent instance of an operating system (OS), called a guest OS, and its associated software and information.
  • Hadoop - Hadoop is an open source distributed processing framework that manages data processing and storage for big data applications in scalable clusters of computer servers.
  • hardware emulation - Hardware emulation is the use of one hardware device to mimic the function of another hardware device.
  • headless system - A headless system is a computer that operates without a monitor, graphical user interface (GUI) or the typical peripherals used to control it, such as a keyboard and mouse.
  • host virtual machine (host VM) - A host virtual machine is the server component of a virtual machine the underlying hardware that provides computing resources to support a particular guest VM.
  • hosted virtual desktop (HVD) - A hosted virtual desktop (HVD) is a user interface that connects to applications and data that are stored on a cloud provider's servers rather than on the user's computer or the corporate network.
  • hyperconverged appliance (HCI appliance) - A hyperconverged appliance (HCI appliance) is a hardware device that provides multiple data center management technologies within a single box.
  • hypervisor - A hypervisor is software that facilitates running multiple virtual machines (VMs) with their own operating systems on a single computer host's hardware.
  • hypervisor security - Hypervisor security is the process of ensuring the hypervisor -- the software that enables virtualization -- is secure throughout its lifecycle.
  • Java virtual machine (JVM) - A Java virtual machine (JVM), an implementation of the Java Virtual Machine Specification, interprets compiled Java binary code (called bytecode) for a computer's processor (or "hardware platform") so that it can perform a Java program's instructions.
  • Kubernetes node - A Kubernetes node is a logical collection of IT resources that runs workloads for one or more containers in a Kubernetes cluster.
  • Kubernetes volume - A Kubernetes volume is a directory containing data accessible to containers in a given pod, the smallest deployable unit in a Kubernetes cluster.
  • Linkerd - Linkerd is an open source network proxy installed as a service mesh for Kubernetes.
  • Linux Secure Boot - Linux Secure Boot is a Hyper-V feature that Microsoft introduced in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016.
  • live migration - Live migration refers to the process of moving a virtual machine running on one physical host to another host without disrupting normal operations or causing any downtime or other adverse effects for the end user.
  • logical volume management (LVM) - Logical volume management (LVM) is a form of storage virtualization that offers system administrators a more flexible approach to managing disk storage space than traditional partitioning.
  • memory paging - Memory paging is a memory management technique used to control sharing of memory resources belonging to a computer or virtual machine (VM).
  • Microsoft App-V (Microsoft Application Virtualization) - Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) is an application virtualization client that makes an application available to end users without installing it on a personal computer (PC).
  • Microsoft Azure VM Scale Sets - A Microsoft Azure VM Scale Set is a group of individual virtual machines (VMs) within the Microsoft Azure public cloud that IT administrators can configure and manage as a single unit.
  • Microsoft Hyper-V Shielded VM - A Microsoft Hyper-V Shielded VM is a security feature of Windows Server 2016 that protects a Hyper-V second-generation virtual machine (VM) from access or tampering by using a combination of Secure Boot, BitLocker encryption, virtual Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and the Host Guardian Service.
  • Microsoft Nano Server - Microsoft Nano Server is a lightweight version of the Windows Server operating system that was introduced with Windows Server 2016 for use as an OS layer for virtualized container instances.
  • Microsoft System Center 2012 - Microsoft System Center 2012 is a bundled suite of systems management products that offers tools to monitor and automate virtualized environments, including private clouds based on Microsoft Hyper-V.
  • Microsoft UE-V (User Experience Virtualization) - Microsoft UE-V (User Experience Virtualization) is a tool that lets users move from one Windows device to another and maintain the same operating system and applications settings.
  • Microsoft Windows Defender Device Guard - Windows Defender Device Guard is a security feature for Windows 10 and Windows Server designed to use application whitelisting and code integrity policies to protect users' devices from malicious code that could compromise the operating system.
  • N_Port ID virtualization (NPIV) - N_Port ID virtualization (NPIV) is a Fibre Channel (FC) standard that makes it possible to create multiple virtual ports on a single physical node port (N_Port), with each virtual port appearing as a unique entity to the FC network.
  • NetApp FlexPod - NetApp FlexPod is a reference architecture for server, storage and networking components that are pretested and validated to work together as an integrated infrastructure stack.
  • network functions virtualization (NFV) - Network functions virtualization (NFV) is a network architecture model designed to virtualize network services that have traditionally run on proprietary, dedicated network appliances.
  • Open Virtualization Format (OVF) - The Open Virtualization Format (OVF) is an open source standard for packaging and distributing software applications and services for virtual machines (VMs).
  • overlay network - An overlay network is a virtual or logical network that is created on top of an existing physical network.
  • Parallels - Parallels is a software company best-known for its software that allows users to run Microsoft Windows systems on Apple Macintosh computers.
  • Parallels Desktop for Mac - Parallels Desktop for Mac is desktop virtualization software that allows Microsoft Windows, Linux and Google Chrome OSes and applications to run on an Apple Mac computer.
  • paravirtualization - Paravirtualization is a type of hardware virtualization that enables the guest operating system (OS) in a virtual machine (VM) to access the hypervisor directly, rather than indirectly through a complex abstraction layer, as is the case with conventional full virtualization.
  • PCoIP (PC over IP) - PC over IP (PCoIP) is a remote display protocol that Teradici developed for delivering remote desktops and applications to endpoints.
  • physical to virtual (P2V) - Physical to virtual (P2V), also called hardware virtualization, refers to the migration of physical machines to virtual machines (VMs).
  • purple screen of death (PSOD) - A purple screen of death (PSOD) is a diagnostic screen with white type on a purple background that's displayed when the VMkernel of a VMware ESXi host experiences a critical error, becomes inoperative and terminates any virtual machines (VMs) that are running.
  • raw device mapping - Raw device mapping (RDM) enables disk access in a virtual machine (VM) in the VMware server virtualization environment and allows a storage logical unit number (LUN) to be connected directly to a VM from the storage area network (SAN).
  • Red Hat OpenShift - Red Hat OpenShift is a multifaceted, open source container application development platform from Red Hat Inc.
  • remote desktop connection broker - A remote desktop connection broker is software that allows a remote desktop client to connect to a remote desktop host or server.
  • Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) - Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) is a free Microsoft tool that enables IT administrators to organize, group and control multiple remote desktop connections.
  • Remote Desktop Services (RDS) - Remote Desktop Services (RDS) is an umbrella term for features of Microsoft Windows Server that allow users to remotely access graphical desktops and Windows applications.
  • Scalable Processor Architecture (SPARC) - Scalable Processor Architecture (SPARC) is a 32- and 64-bit microprocessor architecture developed by Sun Microsystems in 1987.
  • second-level address translation (SLAT) - Second-level address translation (SLAT) is a hardware virtualization technology that reduces hypervisor overhead.
  • 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.
  • software-defined storage (SDS) - Software-defined storage (SDS) is a software program that manages data storage resources and functionality and has no dependencies on the underlying physical storage hardware.
  • SPI model - The SPI model is an abbreviation of the most common cloud computing service models: software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
  • Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) - VMware DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler) is a load balancing utility that assigns and moves computing workloads to available hardware resources in a virtualized environment.
  • Storage vMotion - Storage vMotion is a component of VMware vSphere that allows the live migration of a running virtual machine's (VM) file system from one storage system to another, with no downtime for the VM or service disruption for end users.
  • syslog - Syslog is an IETF RFC 5424 standard protocol for computer logging and collection that is popular in Unix-like systems including servers, networking equipment and IoT devices.
  • translation lookaside buffer (TLB) - A translation lookaside buffer (TLB) is a type of memory cache that stores recent translations of virtual memory to physical addresses to enable faster retrieval.
  • Type 2 hypervisor (hosted hypervisor) - A Type 2 hypervisor is a virtual machine (VM) manager that is installed as a software application on an existing operating system (OS).
  • unified computing system (UCS) - A unified computing system (UCS) is a converged data center architecture that integrates computing, networking and storage resources to increase efficiency and enable centralized management.
  • USB redirection - USB redirection is a technology that enables an end user to plug an external device into a USB port on their endpoint and access the device from within a remote desktop or application.
  • virtual - In computing, the term virtual refers to a digitally replicated version of something real, whether it's a machine, a switch, memory or even reality.
  • virtual address - A virtual address is a binary number in virtual memory that lets a process use a location in primary storage (main memory) or, in some cases, secondary storage.
  • virtual CPU (vCPU) - A virtual CPU (vCPU) is the processor of a virtual machine (VM).
  • virtual desktop - A virtual desktop is a computer operating system that does not run directly on the endpoint hardware from which a user accesses it.
  • virtual firewall - A virtual firewall is a firewall device or service that provides network traffic filtering and monitoring for virtual machines (VMs) in a virtualized environment.
  • virtual LUN (virtual logical unit number) - A virtual LUN (virtual logical unit number) is a representation of a storage area that is not tied to any physical storage allocation.