Virtualisation: More Capacity from Fewer Servers
Server virtualisation separates software from the hardware it runs on. A single physical server is divided into virtual machines, each with its own operating system and applications, each behaving like a dedicated server while sharing the underlying CPU, memory and storage. GOLINE has built and operated server virtualisation platforms on VMware, and today on Omnissa, for its own data centres and for customers across Switzerland.
Each virtual machine is logically isolated from the others, so a problem in one never touches the rest. Consolidating many physical servers onto a few hosts cuts hardware, power and management costs, and makes high availability, snapshots and migrations part of everyday operations rather than special projects.
Server Virtualisation: What a Hypervisor Does
The hypervisor is the software that creates and runs virtual machines. Type 1, or bare-metal, hypervisors such as VMware ESXi run directly on the hardware and act as the operating system of the host. Type 2, or hosted, hypervisors run as an application inside an existing operating system. KVM, built into the Linux kernel, blurs the line: the host remains a normal Linux system and runs virtual machines natively.
Whatever the type, the job is the same: partition the hardware, isolate the guests and let several operating systems run on one host at the same time. Server virtualisation is the technology behind every cloud platform, including the hosting environments GOLINE operates.
What a Virtual Machine Is
A virtual machine is a complete computer running on top of another. It receives a share of the host’s CPU and memory, one or more virtual disks, a network interface and, where needed, access to devices such as GPUs or USB hardware. Because it lives in a disk image, it can be copied, moved between hosts and restored in minutes. For mission-critical applications this translates into:
- A lower total cost of ownership
- Faster provisioning and greater agility
- Simpler system management
- Better energy efficiency