Hypervisors

Hypervisors, also known as Virtual Machine Monitors (VMMs), are software that creates and runs virtual machines. They abstract physical hardware and provide virtualized resources to guest operating systems. Hypervisors handle critical functions including: 1) CPU virtualization - Using techniques like binary translation, paravirtualization, or hardware-assisted virtualization (Intel VT-x, AMD-V). 2) Memory virtualization - Managing physical memory allocation and providing virtual memory spaces for guests. 3) I/O virtualization - Emulating virtual devices and managing access to physical devices. 4) Resource scheduling - Allocating CPU time, memory, and I/O bandwidth among VMs. 5) Live migration - Moving running VMs between physical hosts without downtime. Hypervisors also provide management interfaces for creating, configuring, and monitoring VMs. Modern hypervisors include advanced features like snapshots, cloning, high availability, and distributed resource scheduling. Understanding hypervisor technology is essential for virtualization administrators, cloud engineers, and data center operators.