Virtualization is software technology which uses a physical resource such as a server and divides it up into virtual resources called virtual machines (VM’s).  It allows users to consolidate physical resources, simplify deployment and administration, and reduce power and cooling requirements.  While this technology is most popular in the server world, virtualization technology is also being used in data storage such as Storage Area Networks, and inside of operating systems such as Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V.

Virtualization Advantages:

• Server consolidation
• Reduced power and cooling
• Green computing
• Ease of deployment and administration
• High availability and disaster recovery

Popular supported technologies:

• VMware
• Microsoft Hyper-V