What is a Virtual Machine? | VMware Glossary

What is a Virtual Machine? | VMware Glossary

A Virtual Machine (VM) is a computing resource that operates via software rather than a physical computer to execute programs and deploy applications. Multiple virtual "guest" machines can run on a single physical "host" machine. Each virtual machine functions independently and runs its own operating system, even when multiple VMs are hosted on the same physical server. This allows, for example, a virtual macOS VM to run on a physical PC.

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Virtual machine technology has multiple applications in both on-premises and cloud environments. Public cloud services increasingly utilize VMs to offer virtual application resources to numerous users simultaneously, optimizing cost efficiency and compute flexibility.

Containers Vs VMs: Security Pros & Cons

Containers are gaining traction due to their agility, scalability, and portability, often presenting themselves as an alternative to traditional VMs. They significantly boost application development speed and ensure efficient resource use.

Advantages of Containers over VMs:

• Efficient app packaging and reduced release overhead
• Short lifespans, minimizing the risk of outdated packages
• Less deviation from their initial state due to frequent rebuilds and pushes

While containers and VMs can both improve resource utilization, the primary concern often revolves around security. Before containerization gained popularity, VMs were the go-to solution for separating environments within a physical infrastructure.

What are VMs or Virtual Machines?

Virtual Machines provide isolated environments simulating computer systems with access to actual hardware resources. Hypervisor software, which simulates physical infrastructure and divides these resources into multiple VMs, facilitates this.

Although VMs operate on a single physical server, each VM appears as if it runs on bare-metal hardware. VMs are typically large, containing guest OS, kernels, and various libraries and applications.

What are Containers?

Containers virtualize the host OS rather than the hardware, running packaged applications in isolated environments on a physical server. Unlike VMs, container applications share the same OS kernel, making them significantly lighter and typically just megabytes in size. Container-based applications require orchestration platforms like Kubernetes and container-building tools such as Docker.

Google Kubernetes and Docker are a popular combo for complex applications, with master nodes, worker nodes, and pods forming the core of container technology.

Containers vs Virtual Machines

Benefits of Containers

Some key benefits of containers include:

1) Easy to Maintain

Containers use microservices-based architecture, allowing code to be managed in smaller, separate pieces. This simplifies updates and maintenance without affecting other parts of your application.

2) Portability

Containers are highly portable and can be easily moved across different environments like public cloud, private cloud, and bare-metal servers.

3) Efficient Use of Resources

Containers share most of their dependencies, ensuring more efficient resource utilization compared to VMs, which often lead to redundancy in hardware consumption.

4) Highly Scalable

Container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes help manage containers by automating tasks such as scaling, networking, and deployment. This ensures applications can scale up or down as needed.

Container Cons

1) Runs a Single OS

This can be limiting if your application requires multiple operating systems.

2) Insufficient Security Measures

Containers offer minimal separation from the host OS and other containers, posing potential security risks.

Experienced users increasingly focus on enhancing communication between DevOps and Security teams to mitigate these risks.

Virtual Machines Pros

1) Can Simulate Numerous OS

VMs can run any operating system, offering flexibility without needing new hardware.

2) Additional Resources

VMs are better suited for resource-intensive tasks, as they can access more resources than containers can.

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3) Hard Security Boundaries

VMs offer robust isolation, making them more secure compared to containers, which run within the same OS.

Virtual Machines Cons

1) Harder to Keep the OS Updated

Each OS within a VM must be updated individually, a time-consuming task if multiple VMs are involved.

2) Inefficient Use of Resources

VMs often allocate more resources than needed, leading to inefficient use of hardware.

Frequently used VM vendors include:

• KVM
• Xen
• VMware
• Hyper-V
• VirtualBox

Security in VM Perspective

VMs have strong segmentation boundaries, ideal for multi-tenant cloud environments. However, improper orchestration can lead to issues like generating outdated or unnecessary images.

Security in Containers Perspective

Containers are often misconceived as providing strong security boundaries similar to VMs, but they are generally considered less secure. Containers create logical environments using OS features, offering controlled, limited resource utilization.

Overall, containers are more frequently updated via CI/CD pipelines, enhancing security compared to VMs, which require frequent manual updates.

Conclusion

VMware offers both security and stability, key for production environments, alongside several products that extend Docker and VMware functionalities through automation and orchestration.

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