Virtual Machines and virtualization may redefine operating systems and make computing world moving towards complete virtualization where its resources that are its own will only be the hardware that allows the computer to be used, seen and felt by the user.
In the world of computers, virtualization is a term that refers to resources being used by the computer, being available to it from abstract sources that are not really within the computer. In platform virtualization the operating system is separated from the resources that are being used by the platform. When you refer to resource virtualization it means that specific system resources such as storage volumes, name spaces and network resources are available to the computer from sources outside the computer. In application virtualization the applications being used by the computer are available from alien hardware or software. Desktops can also be virtualized by allowing them to be manipulated remotely.
So is the computing world moving towards complete virtualization where its resources that are its own will only be the hardware that allows the computer to be used, seen and felt by the user.
A virtual machine is software that executes programs as if it is a real machine. Virtual machines are bound to operate within the confines of the resources and abstractions that it has, and it cannot form any functions or process anything that are outside the confines of its virtual world. A system virtual machine would allow the host machine to support the execution of a complete operating system. A process virtual machine would only execute a single program that supports a single process
It is felt that virtualization is moving back to servers. It is a cyclical shift and it in no way means that clients are obsolete. The client will be able to see the VM as a single server or a cloud where all necessary computing applications are available. The administrator on a network will also be able to access and administer all clients through this cloud with a single tool. The client will be able to utilize the resources in the cloud to store all his data, make changes or create new databases and even use the resources available in the VM to create or manipulate images.
Opinion is still divided as to whether the VM will be hardware based or software based. With the great advances being made in storage and microchips it is quite easy to store the resources necessary for the VM into a single chip and install it in the hardware of the desktop or computer. This can be loaded on during the boot up process and function as a virtual machine. This could enable booting without the need of a hard drive leading to savings in power consumption and computer configurations. Such hardware based VMs however would face the problems of updating and likely obsolescence that would force a user to constantly upgrade his machine. Any such hardware based VM would have to operate across all operating systems and this may increase its cost and memory requirements.
If a VM is software based then it will have the major advantage that it can be constantly updated. As this updating would be central, it would be available to all clients at the same time without any need for downloads or reinstallation. This application virtualization would leave no trace on the operating system and thus not cause any registry or associated problems. License issues would not matter as such VMs would be available only to registered and bonafide clients. There is a problem however where users have created their own custom scripts, tool bars and other tweaks that are based on the version of the application. These problems will have to be tackled in such a way that a user’s productivity is in no way compromised without any interruption.
Virtual Machines and virtualization may redefine operating systems and make them develop towards a more robust form of multitenancy that will force them to have separate hardware and application facing components.