CLOUD COMPUTING

ASSIGNMENT-1
(VIRTUALIZATION)

SUBMITTED TO:
MS. YOGITA

SUBMITTED BY:
DARSHPREET KAUR SHINH
IT-1 GROUP-2
UE138024
4TH YEAR 7TH SEMESTER

INDEX
1.
2.
3.
4.

SR. NO.

TOPIC
INTRODUCTION TO VIRTUALIZATION
ROLE OF VIRTUAL MACHINE IN
VIRTUALIZATION
DIFFERENT SOFTWARES AVAILABLE FOR
VIRTUALIZATION
STEPS FOR CREATING A VIRTUAL
MACHINE

PAGE NO.
3-6
7-8
9-10
11-18

INTRODUCTION TO VIRTUALIZATION
In computing, virtualization refers to the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of
something, including virtual computer hardware platforms, operating systems, storage devices,
and computer network resources.
Virtualization is the key to cloud computing, since it is the enabling technology allowing the
creation of an intelligent abstraction layer which hides the complexity of underlying hardware or
software.
Virtualization began in the 1960s, as a method of logically dividing the system resources
provided by mainframe computers between different applications.
There are different types of Virtualization:
Hardware Virtualization
Hardware virtualization or platform virtualization refers to the creation of a virtual machine that
acts like a real computer with an operating system. Software executed on these virtual machines
is separated from the underlying hardware resources. For example, a computer that is running
Microsoft Windows may host a virtual machine that looks like a computer with the Ubuntu
Linux operating system; Ubuntu-based software can be run on the virtual machine.
In hardware virtualization, the host machine is the actual machine on which the virtualization
takes place, and the guest machine is the virtual machine. The words host and guest are used to
distinguish the software that runs on the physical machine from the software that runs on the
virtual machine. The software or firmware that creates a virtual machine on the host hardware is
called a hypervisor or Virtual Machine Manager.
Different types of hardware virtualization include:

Full virtualization almost complete simulation of the actual hardware to allow software,
which typically consists of a guest operating system, to run unmodified.
Partial virtualization some but not all of the target environment attributes are simulated.
As a result, some guest programs may need modifications to run in such virtual
environments.
Paravirtualization a hardware environment is not simulated; however, the guest
programs are executed in their own isolated domains, as if they are running on a separate
system. Guest programs need to be specifically modified to run in this environment.

Desktop Virtualization
Desktop virtualization is the concept of separating the logical desktop from the physical
machine.
One form of desktop virtualization, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), can be thought of as a
more advanced form of hardware virtualization. Rather than interacting with a host computer
directly via a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, the user interacts with the host computer using
another desktop computer or a mobile device by means of a network connection, such as a LAN,
Wireless LAN or even the Internet. In addition, the host computer in this scenario becomes a
server computer capable of hosting multiple virtual machines at the same time for multiple users.
As organizations continue to virtualize and converge their data center environment, client
architectures also continue to evolve in order to take advantage of the predictability, continuity,
and quality of service delivered by their converged infrastructure. For example, companies like
HP and IBM provide a hybrid VDI model with a range of virtualization software and delivery
models to improve upon the limitations of distributed client computing. Selected client
environments move workloads from PCs and other devices to data center servers, creating wellmanaged virtual clients, with applications and client operating environments hosted on servers
and storage in the data center. For users, this means they can access their desktop from any
location, without being tied to a single client device. Since the resources are centralized, users
moving between work locations can still access the same client environment with their
applications and data. For IT administrators, this means a more centralized, efficient client
environment that is easier to maintain and able to more quickly respond to the changing needs of
the user and business.
Another form, session virtualization, allows multiple users to connect and log into a shared but
powerful computer over the network and use it simultaneously. Each is given a desktop and a
personal folder in which they store their files. With multiseat configuration, session virtualization
can be accomplished using a single PC with multiple monitors keyboards and mice connected.
Thin clients, which are seen in desktop virtualization, are simple and/or cheap computers that are
primarily designed to connect to the network. They may lack significant hard disk storage space,
RAM or even processing power, but many organizations are beginning to look at the cost
benefits of eliminating thick client desktops that are packed with software (and require
software licensing fees) and making more strategic investments. Desktop virtualization
simplifies software versioning and patch management, where the new image is simply updated
on the server, and the desktop gets the updated version when it reboots. It also enables
centralized control over what applications the user is allowed to have access to on the
workstation.
Moving virtualized desktops into the cloud creates hosted virtual desktops (HVDs), in which the
desktop images are centrally managed and maintained by a specialist hosting firm. Benefits
include scalability and the reduction of capital expenditure, which is replaced by a monthly
operational cost.

Software Virtualization

Operating system-level virtualization, hosting of multiple virtualized environments

within a single OS instance.
Application virtualization and workspace virtualization, the hosting of individual
applications in an environment separated from the underlying OS. Application
virtualization is closely associated with the concept of portable applications.
Service virtualization, emulating the behavior of dependent (e.g., third-party, evolving, or
not implemented) system components that are needed to exercise an application under
test (AUT) for development or testing purposes. Rather than virtualizing entire
components, it virtualizes only specific slices of dependent behavior critical to the
execution of development and testing tasks.

Memory Virtualization

Memory virtualization, aggregating random-access memory (RAM) resources from

networked systems into a single memory pool
Virtual memory, giving an application program the impression that it has contiguous
working memory, isolating it from the underlying physical memory implementation

Storage Virtualization

Storage virtualization, the process of completely abstracting logical storage from physical
storage
Distributed file system, any file system that allows access to files from multiple hosts
sharing via a computer network
Virtual file system, an abstraction layer on top of a more concrete file system, allowing
client applications to access different types of concrete file systems in a uniform way
Storage hypervisor, the software that manages storage virtualization and combines
physical storage resources into one or more flexible pools of logical storage[10]
Virtual disk drive, a computer program that emulates a disk drive such as a hard disk
drive or optical disk drive (see comparison of disc image software)

Data Virtualization

Data virtualization, the presentation of data as an abstract layer, independent of

underlying database systems, structures and storage.
Database virtualization, the decoupling of the database layer, which lies between the
storage and application layers within the application stack over all.

Network Virtualization

Network virtualization, creation of a virtualized network addressing space within or

across network subnets
Virtual private network (VPN), a network protocol that replaces the actual wire or other
physical media in a network with an abstract layer, allowing a network to be created over
the Internet

Nested Virtualization
Nested virtualization refers to the ability of running a virtual machine within another, having this
general concept extendable to an arbitrary depth. In other words, nested virtualization refers to
running one or more hypervisors inside another hypervisor. Nature of a nested guest virtual
machine does not need not be homogenous with its host virtual machine; for example,
application virtualization can be deployed within a virtual machine created by using hardware
virtualization.
Nested virtualization becomes more necessary as widespread operating systems gain built-in
hypervisor functionality, which in a virtualized environment can be used only if the surrounding
hypervisor supports nested virtualization; for example, Windows 7 is capable of running
Windows XP applications inside a built-in virtual machine. Furthermore, moving already
existing virtualized environments into a cloud, following the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
approach, is much more complicated if the destination IaaS platform does not support nested
virtualization.
The way nested virtualization can be implemented on a particular computer architecture depends
on supported hardware-assisted virtualization capabilities. In case a particular architecture does
not provide hardware support required for nested virtualization, various software techniques are
employed to enable it. Over time, more architectures gain required hardware support; for
example, since the Haswell microarchitecture (announced in 2013), Intel started to include
VMCS shadowing as a technology that accelerates nested virtualization.
Importance of Virtualization

Consolidation: You can stretch the server to its limits by installing various types of
software on one piece of hardware.
Energy Efficiency: Virtual machines are more energy efficient than a dedicated server.
Instead of having multiple dedicated servers, you can have lots of virtual servers, which
helps in saving energy and reducing operation cost.
Testing: Before installing a software application on a live server, many companies like to
test it out on virtual machines to see how the software is compatible with other operating
systems and setups.
Isolation: If a virtual server is under attack or is down, only that server is affected. The
other virtual servers function smoothly as if nothing is wrong.

ROLE OF VIRTUAL MACHINE IN VIRTUALIZATION

In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is an emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines
are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. Their
implementations may involve specialized hardware, software, or a combination.
There are different kinds of virtual machines, each with different functions:
System virtual machines (also termed full virtualization VMs) provide a substitute for a real
machine. They provide functionality needed to execute entire operating systems. A hypervisor
uses native execution to share and manage hardware, allowing for multiple environments which
are isolated from one another, yet exist on the same physical machine. Modern hypervisors use
hardware-assisted virtualization, virtualization-specific hardware, primarily from the host CPUs.
Process virtual machines are designed to execute computer programs in a platform-independent
environment.
Some virtual machines, such as QEMU, are designed to also emulate different architectures and
allow execution of software applications and operating systems written for another CPU or
architecture. Operating-system-level virtualization allows the resources of a computer to be
partitioned via the kernel's support for multiple isolated user space instances, which are usually
called containers and may look and feel like real machines to the end users.
A virtual machine (VM) is an operating system (OS) or application environment that is installed
on software, which imitates dedicated hardware. The end user has the same experience on a
virtual machine as they would have on dedicated hardware.
Specialized software, called a hypervisor, emulates the PC client or server's CPU, memory, hard
disk, network and other hardware resources completely, enabling virtual machines to share the
resources. The hypervisor can emulate multiple virtual hardware platforms that are isolated from
each other, allowing virtual machines to run Linux and Windows Server operating systems on
the same underlying physical host. Virtualization limits costs by reducing the need for physical
hardware systems. Virtual machines more efficiently use hardware, which lowers the quantities
of hardware and associated maintenance costs, and reduces power and cooling demand. They
also ease management because virtual hardware does not fail. Administrators can take advantage
of virtual environments to simplify backups, disaster recovery, new deployments and basic
system administration tasks.
Virtual machines do not require specialized, hypervisor-specific hardware. Virtualization does,
however, require more bandwidth, storage and processing capacity than a traditional server or
desktop if the physical hardware is going to host multiple running virtual machines. VMs can
easily move, be copied and reassigned between host servers to optimize hardware resource
utilization. Because VMs on a physical host can consume unequal resource quantities -- one may
hog the available physical storage, while another stores little -- IT professionals must balance
VMs with available resources.

The use of virtual machines also comes with several important management considerations,
many of which can be addressed through general systems administration best practices and tools
that are designed to manage VMs. There are some risks to consolidation, including overtaxing
resources or potentially experiencing outages on multiple VMs due to one physical
hardware outage. While these cost savings increase as more virtual machines share the same
hardware platform, it does add risk. It is possible to place hundreds of virtual machines on the
same hardware, but if the hardware platform fails, it could take out dozens or hundreds of virtual
machines.
Several vendors offer virtual machine software, but two main vendors dominate in the
marketplace: VMware and Microsoft. VMware has a mature product portfolio, with many years
of use in the IT industry. While a bit of a late player to virtualization, Microsoft is showing
considerable progress. Many IT shops host noncritical applications on Microsoft VMs because
the virtualization environment costs less than VMware's offerings. Several open
source alternatives are evolving rapidly, with new features and increased stability, but do not
have the same maturity or support options as these vendor offerings.
Cloud computing layers additional technologies, such as self-service provisioning and
chargeback, onto virtualization. For example, in a virtualized data center, the IT staff will spin up
new virtual machines based on user demand or a new project. In a cloud environment, a user can
provision virtual machines from a self-service catalog and specify resources without interacting
with the underlying physical equipment

DIFFERENT SOFTWARES AVAILABLE FOR VIRTUALIZATION

Below are the three most popular virtualization software types used in the hosting industry to
create virtual servers:
1) Parallels Virtuozzo

In Virtuozzo there is a single OS kernel at the core of the host and the various partitions on the
host import the core functionality from the main core. All these small partitions then become a
complete stand alone entity called virtual private servers or VPS. Virtuozzo has a proprietary file
system and security functionality that isolates all the partitions, so a fault in one VPS does not
affect another. Each VPS on the host can be rebooted separately as the host machine is always
running. Virtuozzo is one of the stable virtual softwares and is widely used in the hosting
industry
2) OpenVZ

OpenVZ is the open source version of Virtuozzo. In 2006, Virtuozzos core was available under
the GNU GPL and the open source project was called OpenVZ. Being an open source project,
web hosts offering OpenVZ containers are able to price their VPS at a much cheaper price. One
of the disadvantages of OpenVZ is that hosts normally oversell the resources.
3) Xen Hypervisor

Xen hypervisor is one of the most stable virtualization software available, and its used mainly for
cloud servers, infrastructure as a service and server virtualization. Xen Hypervisors main benefit
over Virtuozzo and OpenVZ is that it supports creating cloud infrastructure. There are some big
names in the industry that use Xen to create their cloud. The companies are:
Amazon
cloud.com
goGrid
Rackspace
Xen runs directly over the hardware and completely manages CPU, memory and disk space.
XEN supports most of the Linux distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, RHEL, Fedora,
and many others.

4) VMWare Server

VMWare Server is a free Virtualization software from VMWare. Although its support has ended
but it can still be downloaded and used for free. VMWare Server supports almost all the
Operating Systems as guests or hosts but 64-bit guest OS cannot be installed on a 32-bit host.
VMWare Server has support for USB devices and also supports bridged, NAT and host only
network interfaces.
VMWare Server comes with administrative tools package which can be installed from the File
menu. The administrative tools make it easier to communicate between the host and the guest
Operating System without locking the mouse and enabling of cut, copy, paste and drag and drop
operations across host and guest OS.

SIMPLE STEPS TO A NEW VIRTUAL MACHINE

Follow these steps to create a virtual machine using a virtual disk.
1. Start VMware Workstation.
Windows hosts: Double-click the VMware Workstation icon on your desktop or use the
Start menu (Start > Programs > VMware > VMware Workstation).
Linux hosts: In a terminal window, enter the command
vmware &
2. If this is the first time you have launched VMware Workstation and you did not enter the
serial number when you installed the product (an option available on a Windows host),
you are prompted to enter it. The serial number is on the registration card in your
package. Enter your serial number and click OK.
The serial number you enter is saved and VMware Workstation does not ask you for it
again. For your convenience, VMware Workstation automatically sends the serial number
to the VMware Web site when you use certain Web links built into the product (for
example, Help > VMware software on the Web > Register Now! and Help > VMware on
the Web > Request Support). This allows us to direct you to the correct Web page to
register and get support for your product.
3. Linux hosts: If this is the first time you have launched VMware Workstation, a dialog
box asks if you want to rename existing virtual disks using the new .vmdk extension.
Click OK to search all local drives on the host computer and make this change. (On
Windows hosts, you have a chance to rename virtual disk files when you are installing
VMware Workstation.)
The converter also renames the files that store the state of a suspended virtual machine, if
it finds them. It changes the old .std file extension to .vmss. However, it is best to resume
and shut down all suspended virtual machines before you upgrade to Workstation 4.
Besides renaming files, the converter updates the corresponding virtual machine
configuration files so they identify the virtual disks using the new filenames.
If you store your virtual disk files or suspended state files on a Windows XP or Windows
Server 2003 host - or if you may do so in the future - it is important to convert the
filenames to avoid conflicts with the System Restore feature of Windows XP and
Windows Server 2003.

Linux Hosts: One Chance to Rename Disk Files

The Rename Virtual Disks dialog box appears only once. If you click Cancel, you will
not have another opportunity to update the filenames and configuration files
automatically.
4. Start the New Virtual Machine Wizard.
When you start VMware Workstation, you can open an existing virtual machine or create
a new one. Choose File > New > New Virtual Machine to begin creating your virtual
machine.
5. The New Virtual Machine Wizard presents you with a series of screens that you navigate
using the Next and Prev buttons at the bottom of each screen. At each screen, follow the
instructions, then click Next to proceed to the next screen.
6. Select the method you want to use for configuring your virtual machine.

If you select Typical, the wizard prompts you to specify or accept defaults for
o
o
o

The guest operating system

The virtual machine name and the location of the virtual machine's files
The network connection type
If you select Custom, you also can specify how to set up your disk - create a new
virtual disk, use an existing virtual disk or use a physical disk - and specify the
settings needed for the type of disk you select.
Select Custom if you want to

o
o
o

Make a virtual disk larger or smaller than 4GB

Store your virtual disk's files in a particular location
Use an IDE virtual disk for a guest operating system that would otherwise have a
SCSI virtual disk created by default

o
o
o
o

Allocate all the space for a virtual disk at the time you create it
Choose whether to split a virtual disk into 2GB files
Use a physical disk rather than a virtual disk (for expert users)
Set memory options that are different from the defaults.

7. Select a guest operating system.

This screen asks which operating system you plan to install in the virtual machine. The
New Virtual Machine Wizard uses this information to select appropriate default values,
such as the amount of memory needed. The wizard also uses this information when
naming associated virtual machine files.
If the operating system you are using is not listed, select Other.
The remaining steps assume you plan to install a Windows XP Professional guest
operating system. You can find detailed installation notes for this and other guest
operating systems in the VMware Guest Operating System Installation Guide, available
from the VMware Web site or from the Help menu.
8. Select a name and folder for the virtual machine.

The name specified here is used if you add this virtual machine to the VMware
Workstation Favorites list. This name is also used as the name of the folder where the
files associated with this virtual machine are stored.
Each virtual machine should have its own folder. All associated files, such as the
configuration file and the disk file, are placed in this folder.
Windows hosts: On Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, the default
folder for this Windows XP Professional virtual machine is C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\My Documents\My Virtual Machines\Windows XP Professional.
On Windows NT, the default folder is C:\WINNT\Profiles\<username>\Personal\My
Virtual Machines\Windows XP Professional.
Linux hosts: The default location for this Windows XP Professional virtual machine is
<homedir>/vmware/winXPPro, where <homedir> is the home directory of the user who
is currently logged on.
Virtual machine performance may be slower if your virtual hard disk is on a network
drive. For best performance, be sure the virtual machine's folder is on a local drive.
However, if other users need to access this virtual machine, you should consider placing
the virtual machine files in a location that is accessible to them. For more information,
see Sharing Virtual Machines with Other Users.
9. Configure the networking capabilities of the virtual machine.

If your host computer is on a network and you have a separate IP address for your virtual
machine (or can get one automatically from a DHCP server), select Use bridged
networking.
If you do not have a separate IP address for your virtual machine but you want to be able
to connect to the Internet, select Use network address translation (NAT). NAT is useful if
you have a wireless network adapter on a Linux host (as bridged networking on wireless
network adapters is supported only on Windows hosts). It also allows for the sharing of
files between the virtual machine and the host operating system.

10. If you selected Typical as your configuration path, click Finish and the wizard sets up the
files needed for your virtual machine.
If you selected Custom as your configuration path, continue with the steps for
configuring a disk for your virtual machine.
11. Select the disk you want to use with the virtual machine.

Select Create a new virtual disk.

Virtual disks are the best choice for most virtual machines. They are quick and easy to set
up and can be moved to new locations on the same host computer or to different host
computers. By default, virtual disks start as small files on the host computer's hard drive,
then expand as needed - up to the size you specify in the next step. The next step also
allows you to allocate all the disk space when the virtual disk is created, if you wish.
To use an existing operating system on a physical hard disk (a "raw" disk), read
Configuring a Dual-Boot Computer for Use with a Virtual Machine. To install your guest
operating system directly on an existing IDE disk partition, read the reference note
Installing an Operating System onto a Raw Partition from a Virtual Machine.
Caution: Raw disk configurations are recommended only for expert users.
Caution: If you are using a Windows Server 2003, Windows XP or Windows 2000 host,
see Do Not Use Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Dynamic Disks
as Raw Disks.
To install the guest operating system on a raw IDE disk, select Existing IDE Disk
Partition. To use a raw SCSI disk, add it to the virtual machine later with the Virtual
Machine Control Panel. Booting from a raw SCSI disk is not supported. For a discussion
of some of the issues involved in using a raw SCSI disk, see Configuring Dual- or
Multiple-Boot SCSI Systems to Run with VMware Workstation on a Linux Host.

12. Specify the capacity of the virtual disk.

Enter the size of the virtual disk that you wish to create.
If you wish, select Allocate all disk space now.
Allocating all the space at the time you create the virtual disk gives somewhat better
performance, but it requires as much disk space as the size you specify for the virtual
disk.
If you do not select this option, the virtual disk's files start small and grow as needed, but
they can never grow larger than the size you set here.
You can set a size between 2GB and 256GB for a SCSI virtual disk or 128GB for an IDE
virtual disk. The default is 4GB.
You may also specify whether you want the virtual disk created as one large file or split
into a set of 2GB files.
Make the Virtual Disk Big Enough
The virtual disk should be large enough to hold the guest operating system and all of the
software that you intend to install, with room for data and growth.
You cannot change the virtual disk's maximum capacity later.
You can install additional virtual disks using the Virtual Machine Control Panel
For example, you need about 500MB of actual free space on the file system containing
the virtual disk to install Windows Me and popular applications such as Microsoft Office
inside the virtual machine. You can set up a single virtual disk to hold these files. Or you
can split them up - installing the operating system on the first virtual disk and using a
second virtual disk for applications or data files.

13. Specify the location of the virtual disk's files.

If a SCSI virtual disk is created by default and you want to use a virtual IDE disk instead,
or if you want to specify which device node should be used by your SCSI or IDE virtual
disk, click Advanced.

On the advanced settings screen, you can also specify a disk mode. This is useful in
certain special-purpose configurations in which you want to exclude disks from the
snapshot. For more information on the snapshot feature, see Using the Snapshot.
Normal disks are included in the snapshot. In most cases, this is the setting you want.
Independent disks are not included in the snapshot.
Caution: The independent disk option should be used only by advanced users who need it
for special-purpose configurations.

You have the following options for an independent disk:

o
o

Persistent - changes are immediately and permanently written to the disk.

Nonpersistent - changes to the disk are discarded when you power off or revert to
the snapshot.
When you have set the filename and location you want to use and have made any
selections you want to make on the advanced settings screen, click Finish.

14. Click Finish. The wizard sets up the files needed for your virtual machine.