MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY),

MULLANA (AMBALA)

Programme: BCA
Course: BCA-603: Cloud Computing

Unit-3
Virtualization in Cloud Computing
Virtualization is used to create a virtual version of an underlying service with the help of
Virtualization, multiple operating systems and applications can run on the same machine and
its same hardware at the same time, increasing the utilization and flexibility of hardware. It was
initially developed during the mainframe era.
It is one of the main cost-effective, hardware-reducing, and energy-saving techniques used by
cloud providers. Virtualization allows sharing of a single physical instance of a resource or an
application among multiple customers and organizations at one time. It does this by assigning
a logical name to physical storage and providing a pointer to that physical resource on demand.

Fig 1: Virtualization
The term virtualization is often synonymous with hardware virtualization, which plays a
fundamental role in efficiently delivering Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions for cloud
computing. Moreover, virtualization technologies provide a virtual environment for not only
executing applications but also for storage, memory, and networking
• Host Machine: The machine on which the virtual machine is going to be built is known
as Host Machine.
 MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY),
MULLANA (AMBALA)

Programme: BCA
Course: BCA-603: Cloud Computing

• Guest Machine: The virtual machine is referred to as a Guest Machine.

Working of Virtualization in Cloud Computing
Virtualization has a prominent impact on Cloud Computing. In the case of cloud computing,
users store data in the cloud, but with the help of Virtualization, users have the extra benefit of
sharing the infrastructure.
Cloud Vendors take care of the required physical resources, but these cloud providers charge a
huge amount for these services which impacts every user or organization. Virtualization helps
Users or Organisations in maintaining those services which are required by a company through
external (third-party) people, which helps in reducing costs to the company. This is the way
through which Virtualization works in Cloud Computing.
Advantages of Virtualization
Here are some of the benefits of using Virtualization in Cloud Computing –
• mproved resource utilization. An average dedicated server uses only 15% of its
resources during normal operation. Virtualization enables you to run several VMs on a
single server and maximize the use of each server's capacity.
• Centralized management. Virtualization centralizes management tasks such as
provisioning, monitoring, and maintenance. Admins manage VMs through a unified
interface or software-defined control plane, which streamlines administration and
reduces operational complexity.
• Cost savings. Virtualization significantly reduces hardware costs by consolidating
multiple VMs onto fewer physical servers. Adopters get to lower hardware acquisition
and reduce maintenance expenses.
• High scalability. Virtualization enables rapid scaling of IT infrastructure to
accommodate changing workload demands. This agility supports business growth and
fluctuations in resource requirements.
• Faster provisioning. Buying, installing, and configuring physical hardware is time-
consuming. On the other hand, provisioning VMs is quick and easy, plus it can be done
automatically.
• Workload portability. Virtualized environments are platform-independent. VMs
seamlessly run on different hardware platforms and migrate between on-prem and
cloud environments.
• Improved security. Virtualization enhances security by isolating VMs from each other
and the underlying hardware. As a result, adopters reduce the risk
of malware infections, data breaches, and unauthorized access.
 MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY),
MULLANA (AMBALA)

Programme: BCA
Course: BCA-603: Cloud Computing

• Reduced downtime. VMs move between physical hosts with minimal downtime,
which makes it easier to ensure the availability of critical services. You can run multiple
redundant VMs alongside each other and set up failover between them to ensure zero
downtime during disruptive incidents.
Disadvantages of Virtualization
• High Initial Investment: Clouds have a very high initial investment, but it is also true
that it will help in reducing the cost of companies.
• Learning New Infrastructure: As the companies shifted from Servers to Cloud, it
requires highly skilled staff who have skills to work with the cloud easily and for this,
you have to hire new staff or provide training to current staff.
• Risk of Data: Hosting data on third-party resources can lead to putting the data at risk,
it has the chance of getting attacked by any hacker or cracker very easily.
Characteristics of Virtualization
• Increased Security: The ability to control the execution of a guest program in a
completely transparent manner opens new possibilities for delivering a secure,
controlled execution environment. All the operations of the guest programs are
generally performed against the virtual machine, which then translates and applies them
to the host programs.
• Managed Execution: In particular, sharing, aggregation, emulation, and isolation are
the most relevant features.
• Sharing: Virtualization allows the creation of a separate computing environment
within the same host.
• Aggregation: It is possible to share physical resources among several guests, but
virtualization also allows aggregation, which is the opposite process.
• Emulation: Guest programs are executed within an environment that is controlled
by the virtualization layer, which ultimately is a program. Also, a completely different
environment with respect to the host can be emulated, thus allowing the execution of
guest programs requiring specific characteristics that are not present in the physical
host.
• Isolation: Virtualization allows providing guests—whether they are operating
systems, applications, or other entities—with a completely separate environment, in
which they are executed. The guest program performs its activity by interacting with
an abstraction layer, which provides access to the underlying resources. The virtual
machine can filter the activity of the guest and prevent harmful operations against the
host.
 MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY),
MULLANA (AMBALA)

Programme: BCA
Course: BCA-603: Cloud Computing

• Portability: The concept of portability applies in different ways according to the

specific type of virtualization considered. In the case of a hardware virtualization
solution, the guest is packaged into a virtual image that, in most cases, can be safely
moved and executed on top of different virtual machines.
In the case of programming-level virtualization, as implemented by the JVM or the
.NET runtime, the binary code representing application components (jars or
assemblies) can run without any recompilation on any implementation of the
corresponding virtual machine.

• Resource sharing: Virtualization allows multiple virtual machines to share the

resources of a single physical machine, such as CPU, memory, storage, and network
bandwidth. This improves hardware utilization and reduces the need for additional
physical servers.

• Flexibility: Virtualization allows IT administrators to quickly and easily create,

modify, or delete virtual machines as needed, without the need to purchase and
configure additional physical hardware.

• Hardware independence: Virtual machines are hardware-independent, which means

they can run on different types of physical hardware and can be easily moved between
physical servers without needing to reconfigure the virtual machine.

• Scalability: Virtualization allows organizations to scale their computing resources up

or down as needed, depending on changing business requirements.

• Management: Virtualization provides centralized management tools that allow IT

administrators to monitor and manage multiple virtual machines from a single
console, making it easier to troubleshoot and maintain the virtualized environment.

• Testing and Development: Virtualization allows organizations to easily create test

and development environments without the need for additional physical hardware.
This enables developers to test new applications and configurations in a controlled
environment before deploying them to production.

• Energy Efficiency: Virtualization can help organizations reduce their energy

consumption by consolidating multiple physical servers onto a single machine. This
can result in lower electricity bills and a reduced carbon footprint.

• Increased Uptime: Virtualization can help improve system uptime by enabling

virtual machines to be migrated to different physical hosts in the event of a hardware
failure. This can minimize downtime and prevent data loss.
 MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY),
MULLANA (AMBALA)

Programme: BCA
Course: BCA-603: Cloud Computing

• Cost Savings: Virtualization can help organizations save money by reducing the need
for additional physical hardware, lowering electricity bills, and streamlining IT
operations. This can result in significant cost savings over time.

• Improved Security Management: Virtualization can help organizations improve

their security posture by isolating applications and workloads from each other. This
can prevent security breaches from spreading to other parts of the environment and
reduce the attack surface.

• Cloud Migration: Virtualization can be a stepping stone for organizations looking

to migrate to the cloud. By virtualizing their existing infrastructure, organizations can
make it easier to move workloads to the cloud and take advantage of cloud-based
services.

Types of Virtualization
1. Application Virtualization: App virtualization abstracts software apps from the underlying OS
and encapsulates them into self-contained packages that run in isolation from the host environment.
Virtualized packages contain everything the app needs to run, including all the necessary files,
libraries, and dependencies.
Each virtualized app operates within a sandbox to prevent conflicts with other apps and
system configurations. As a result, app virtualization helps resolve compatibility issues. For
example, you can use this type of virtualization to run a Windows app on Linux or vice versa.
There are three types of app virtualization:
• Local app virtualization. In this approach, the entire app runs in a runtime environment
on the endpoint device. Users install and execute the app locally, but the app operates
within a virtualized environment isolated from the OS and other programs.
• App streaming. In this method, the app resides on a server that streams small software
components or necessary data to the endpoint device. As a result, the app executes on
the endpoint without requiring a complete install, reducing the resource requirements on
the device.
• Server-based app virtualization (or app publishing). In this approach, the app runs
entirely on a server or remote infrastructure. The server only transmits the app's user
interface elements to the client device via a web browser or client interface.
Virtualized apps consume fewer system resources compared to traditional installations.
These apps do not require users to modify system files or registry settings on incompatible
devices, which leads to improved performance on host systems.

2. Network Virtualization: This allows multiple virtual networks to run on the same
physical network, each operating independently. You can quickly set up virtual switches,
routers, firewalls, and VPNs, making network management more flexible and efficient.
 MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY),
MULLANA (AMBALA)

Programme: BCA
Course: BCA-603: Cloud Computing

Fig 2: Network Virtualization

3. Desktop Virtualization: With desktop virtualization, your operating system is stored on

a server and can be accessed from anywhere on any device. It’s great for users who need
flexibility, as it simplifies software updates and provides portability.
Desktop virtualization, also known as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), involves hosting
virtual desktops on a centralized server and delivering them to end-user devices over a local
network or the Internet.
Instead of running desktop OSes and apps locally on their devices, users access virtual
desktops remotely via PCs, laptops, tablets, or smartphones. This accessibility enhances
mobility and enables remote work as users get to securely access virtual desktops from home,
on the road, or in branch offices.
A virtualized desktop can be either persistent or nonpersistent:
• Persistent desktops retain settings, files, and apps across sessions.
• Nonpersistent desktops discard all changes made during the session after logout,
providing a clean slate for the next user.
Desktop virtualization centralizes management tasks such as provisioning, patching,
updating, and backups. Admins manage virtual desktops from a central console, making it
easier to maintain consistency and security across all environments.

4. Storage Virtualization: This combines storage from different servers into a single system,
making it easier to manage. It ensures smooth performance and efficient operations even
when the underlying hardware changes or fails.
Storage virtualization abstracts physical storage resources (hard drives, SSDs, storage arrays,
etc.) from the underlying hardware, allowing admins to manage them as a single pool of
storage. Virtualized storage pools operate as a cohesive storage resource, which enables:
• More efficient use of storage capacity.
 MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY),
MULLANA (AMBALA)

Programme: BCA
Course: BCA-603: Cloud Computing

• Simplified storage management.

• Streamlined archiving, backup, and recovery procedures.
• Simpler data migrations.
Virtualizing storage allows you to integrate devices from different vendors and disparate
locations into a unified storage infrastructure. This integration maximizes existing
investments and helps avoid vendor lock-in.
Storage virtualization also often includes thin provisioning capabilities, which allow admins
to allocate storage capacity on demand rather than pre-allocating physical storage space. Thin
provisioning helps optimize storage utilization and reduce waste.

5. Data Virtualization: This brings data from different sources together in one place without
needing to know where or how it’s stored. It creates a unified view of the data, which can be
accessed remotely via cloud services. Companies like Oracle and IBM offer solutions for
this.

Data virtualization abstracts and integrates data from different databases, data warehouses, and
services. As a result, you abstract the physical location, format, and structure of data from
underlying data sources, presenting it in a logical, unified view to users and apps.
Data virtualization removes the complexities of data storage and retrieval, making it easy to
access and utilize data. This type of virtualization also makes it simple to integrate data from
disparate sources, including:
• Different database types.
• Flat files.
• Web services.
• Cloud storage platforms.
Data virtualization also often includes aggregation, transformation, and enrichment of on-the-
fly data. These features allow users to combine and manipulate data from different sources to
meet specific business needs.

Hypervisor
A hypervisor is a form of virtualization software used in Cloud hosting to divide and allocate
the resources on various pieces of hardware. The program which provides partitioning,
isolation, or abstraction is called a virtualization hypervisor. The hypervisor is a hardware
virtualization technique that allows multiple guest operating systems (OS) to run on a single
host system at the same time. A hypervisor is sometimes also called a virtual machine
manager (VMM).

Types of Hypervisor

TYPE-1 Hypervisor:
 MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY),
MULLANA (AMBALA)

Programme: BCA
Course: BCA-603: Cloud Computing

The hypervisor runs directly on the underlying host system. It is also known as a “Native
Hypervisor” or “Bare metal hypervisor”. It does not require any base server operating system.
It has direct access to hardware resources. Examples of Type 1 hypervisors include VMware
ESXi, Citrix XenServer, and Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor.

Pros & Cons of Type-1 Hypervisor:

Pros: Such kinds of hypervisors are very efficient because they have direct access to the
physical hardware resources (like Cpu, Memory, Network, and Physical storage). This causes
the empowerment of the security because there is nothing any kind of the third party resource
so that attacker couldn’t compromise with anything.
Cons: One problem with Type-1 hypervisors is that they usually need a dedicated separate
machine to perform their operation and to instruct different VMs and control the host
hardware resources.

TYPE-2 Hypervisor:
A Host operating system runs on the underlying host system. It is also known as ‘Hosted
Hypervisor”. Such kind of hypervisors doesn’t run directly over the underlying hardware
rather they run as an application in a Host system (physical machine). Basically, the software
is installed on an operating system. Hypervisor asks the operating system to make hardware
calls. An example of a Type 2 hypervisor includes VMware Player or Parallels Desktop.
Hosted hypervisors are often found on endpoints like PCs. The type-2 hypervisor is very
useful for engineers, and security analysts (for checking malware, or malicious source code
and newly developed applications).

Pros & Cons of Type-2 Hypervisor:

Pros: Such kind of hypervisors allows quick and easy access to a guest Operating System
alongside the host machine running. These hypervisors usually come with additional useful
features for guest machines. Such tools enhance the coordination between the host machine
and the guest machine.
Cons: Here there is no direct access to the physical hardware resources so the efficiency of
these hypervisors lags in performance as compared to the type-1 hypervisors, and potential
security risks are also there an attacker can compromise the security weakness if there is
access to the host operating system so he can also access the guest operating system.

Virtual Private Network

A "virtual private network" (VPN) in cloud computing refers to a secure, encrypted
connection established over the public internet that allows users to access a private network,
like their company's internal network, remotely, essentially creating a "virtual private tunnel"
to protect data transmission while masking their IP address; while a "virtual private cloud"
(VPC) is a dedicated, isolated section within a public cloud where an organization can set up
 MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY),
MULLANA (AMBALA)

Programme: BCA
Course: BCA-603: Cloud Computing

its own virtual network with complete control over its resources, providing a more secure
and private environment for their cloud-based applications and data.

Advantages of using a VPC instead of a private cloud

Scalability: Because a VPC is hosted by a public cloud provider, customers can add more
computing resources on demand.
Easy hybrid cloud deployment: It's relatively simple to connect a VPC to a public cloud or
to on-premises infrastructure via the VPN.
Better performance: Cloud-hosted websites and applications typically perform better than
those hosted on local on-premises servers.
Better security: The public cloud providers that offer VPCs often have more resources for
updating and maintaining the infrastructure, especially for small and mid-market businesses.
For large enterprises or any companies that face extremely tight data security regulations,
this is less of an advantage.