A virtual machine (VM) is an computer system that is emulated on the top of a physical host machine. It appears to be a real computer to the user and runs different operating systems, like Windows Linux or macOS. VMs are well-known because they permit multiple environments to be hosted on one server, resulting in significant savings for businesses.

Typically, a VM navigating document safety in corporate mergers is a “guest” on the host computer, which provides hardware resources, such as processors memory, and hard disk drives. This lets a business put multiple VMs onto the same host computer and allows IT infrastructures to expand and shrink according to the needs. This flexibility helps IT teams to save time on working on software updates, as they are able to manage each physical machine rather than having to manage all of them.

There are two kinds of VM Hypervisors: Type 2 and Type 1. Type 1 hypervisors have better performance since they run directly on the host computer, without the need for a full-blown operating system. Type 2 hypervisors route every VM request to the host operating system. This can slow down processing speed and add costs.

In addition to scalability, virtual machines can also help enhance IT security and disaster recovery. Virtual machines are not dependent on the physical hardware that they are based on. This makes it much easier to restore a VM in the event of a natural disaster or outage. This can reduce downtime and data loss that can directly affect your business’s bottom line.