It is easy to think that virtualization applies only to servers. In reality the recent resurgence of the concept is being applied at a variety of levels including networking, storage, and application infrastructure. In this introduction to the topic InfoQ dives into each area describing its uses as well as benefits and disadvantages.
The IT industry makes heavy use of buzzwords and ever changing terms to define itself. Sometimes the latest nomenclature the industry uses is a particular technology such as x86 or a concept such as green computing. Terms rise and fall out of favor as the industry evolves. In recent years the term virtualization has become the industry’s newest buzzword. This raises the question … just what is virtualization? The first concept that comes to the mind of the average industry professional is running one or more guest operating systems on a host. However, digging a little deeper reveals this definition is too narrow. There are a large number of services, hardware, and software that can be “virtualized”. This article will take a look at these different types of virtualization along with the pros and cons of each...