Understanding Hypervisor in Cloud Computing: A Beginner’s Guide

Cloud computing has revolutionized the way we think about technology infrastructure. It’s made it possible for businesses to access and use technology on-demand, without having to invest in expensive hardware and software. However, to use cloud computing, we need to understand its building blocks, one of which is the hypervisor. In this article, we will explore hypervisor, its types, their architectures, and their impact on cloud computing.

What is a Hypervisor?

A hypervisor, also known as a Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM), is a piece of software that creates and manages virtual machines (VMs) by sharing physical resources like CPU, memory, and storage. It emulates the underlying hardware to multiple VMs simultaneously and provides isolation between them by preventing one VM from interacting with another. Each VM runs its operating system and applications, and it feels like it has sole access to the underlying hardware.

Types of Hypervisors:

There are two types of hypervisors. Type 1 hypervisors (also known as bare-metal hypervisors) run directly on the host machine’s hardware, while Type 2 hypervisors (also known as hosted hypervisors) run on top of the host operating system.

Type 1 hypervisors provide better performance and reliability by bypassing the host operating system. They are used in server virtualization and cloud computing environments. Examples include VMware vSphere, Citrix Hypervisor, and Microsoft Hyper-V.

Type 2 hypervisors are commonly used on personal computers for testing new operating systems or running multiple operating systems. Examples include Oracle VirtualBox, VMware Workstation, and Parallels Desktop.

Hypervisor Architecture:

Hypervisor architecture refers to how a hypervisor interacts with the host and guest operating systems.

Type 1 hypervisors have two architectures: monolithic and microkernel. The monolithic architecture has a single software layer that interacts directly with the host hardware and the guest operating systems, which makes it easier to manage and maintain. The microkernel architecture has two software layers, the microkernel layer that interacts with the hardware and the service layer that interacts with the guest operating systems, which provides better security and flexibility.

Type 2 hypervisors have a similar architecture to Type 1 hypervisors’ microkernel architecture with a separate layer for the hypervisor that interacts with the guest operating system.

Impact on Cloud Computing:

Hypervisors are the foundation of cloud computing as they enable VMs to run on shared resources, providing high availability, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Cloud providers use hypervisors to create virtual machines that run different operating systems and applications, and they can be easily provisioned or de-provisioned based on the customer’s demand. It also allows providers to offer different types of computing services such as infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software as a service (SaaS), or platform as a service (PaaS).

Conclusion:

Hypervisors are an essential component of cloud computing architecture and enable virtualization, which makes cloud computing possible. Type 1 hypervisors are used in server virtualization and cloud computing environments, while Type 2 hypervisors are used for testing and personal use. The hypervisor architecture determines the interaction between the hypervisor and host and guest operating systems. Understanding hypervisors is critical for anyone working with cloud computing technology, and it’s a foundation for building robust and scalable cloud platforms.