With the popularity of desktop virtualization expanding, people have been confusing its functionality with server virtualization. While the two share some of the same features, they serve different functions. Desktop virtualization and server virtualization both enhance security, save costs (when used efficiently), and are centrally controlled. Knowing the major differences between the two can help a company figure out which one is right for them, or if they can properly utilize both. Show  Key Functions of Desktop Virtualization and Server VirtualizationDesktop virtualization separates the software from the physical thin client device. This enables users to access applications and data over different devices and remotely, if they cannot make it into the office. If a device is lost or stolen, IT has the ability to remotely erase any company data from the device. Desktop virtualization will give employees flexibility within their work day. With all of the software and applications not solely stored on a single device, disaster recovery is another major benefit of desktop virtualization. Server virtualization divides a physical server into separate, smaller virtual servers. This helps maximize a company’s resources. Day to day production will run smoother by virtually storing a server, up-time will be increased, and it will be easier to recover from sudden server outages. This will improve server utilization and can even reduce the number of servers a company needs to use to run their programs. With fewer servers, costs are reduced in server maintenance along with power and cooling costs. Server virtualization does not add any additional load to the network; desktop virtualization operates entirely on the network, which can slow down production speeds. Desktop virtualization requires a company to make more changes in their IT resources. To properly enable desktop virtualization it will affect the data center, network and transmission protocol. Server virtualization only requires changes to be made to the server. Both desktop virtualization and server virtualization can help cut costs while making data easily available to employees. If a company is considering desktop virtualization or server virtualization they must fully understand the difference between the two. For a smooth transition a company must plan out their move to desktop virtualization, server virtualization or both.
When you google "what is a virtual machine", you will get back results such as virtual servers, virtual networks, etc. But if you do not have a piece of basic knowledge on this topic, trying to understand the elements that make up the architecture of virtualization can be a bit confusing. In this article, we try to explain as easy as possible how to detect the differences between the main resources that make up a virtualization scheme: machines, networks, and virtual servers.
The use of network servers was very common among large companies for many years. However, the costs were very high and the servers were not so efficient. Normally, a server was devoted to a single function, for example, one to host a database, another one for the e-mail client, etc. Due to the technological evolution of the servers and the increase of their power, using a server for a single function as it was before is inefficient. It would be a pity to use only 15% of a Ferrari power and never be able to experience even 60% of its horsepower right? The solution to this problem is called virtualization. To imagine how virtualization works, think of cutting a cake into several slices to share with your guests. The complete cake is your server, but when you divide it, each slice becomes a virtual machine that can have its own operating system and applications to be used in different functions. In this way now you have a virtual server whose capacity is used up to 70 or 80%. How to create a virtual server?To create a virtual server we need an abstraction layer (virtualization software) between the hardware and the software of the physical server. When doing so, the physical server translates it into one or more virtual machines and each one is assigned a certain amount of hardware resources (memory, CPU, storage, etc) according to the capacity of the physical server. In this way, instead of using a lot of physical servers to run separately an email system, a database, etc, all those applications can be virtualized in a single server. Another advantage that a virtualized server has is its flexibility to migrate virtual machines. What does this mean? That you can move one or more VMs from one server to another without experiencing hardware problems since the VM can be adapted to the new virtualized server resources. There are cases in which you can even copy the virtual machines into USB drivers to move them to other locations. Among the most popular virtualization software is VMWare, Microsoft Virtual Server or Xen Server. To virtualize servers, a multiprocessor system with 16GB of RAM is usually required in addition to several network connections and storage connectivity.
The virtual machine concept is constantly used in many contexts. In this case, we will talk about the virtualization technology behind the creation of independent environments for the execution of different OSs and applications that normally could not work at the same time in a single server or PC client. So, what is a virtual machine? In simple terms, is an operating system or an application environment which is installed in software that emules dedicated hardware. Then, the user doesn´t need the resources of a server or computer exclusively dedicated to run a single OS. For instance, imagine that you could run Linux while working on Windows without being affected or interrupted by the simultaneous operation of both. Everything seems as if you open a new window in your primary OS to work in another program. The basic architecture of Virtual Server’s virtual machine technology. A VM needs something called hypervisor. This special software is capable of full emulation of a PC client and all its hardware resources such as memory, hard disk, etc. This technique allows several virtual machines to share resources. In order for a VM to run Linux and Windows server OSs on the same physical host, the hypervisor must emulate several virtual hardware platforms. They should remain isolated from each other to allow every VM to use them independently without operational conflicts. One of the biggest advantages of using a VM is that the hardware is used with greater efficiency. However, working in virtualization environments requires more bandwidth, storage, and memory consumption. Because each VM can consume different amounts of resources, the intervention of an IT professional is needed to balance the demand for each VM.
A virtual network works basically under the same concept of virtualization that we reviewed in the previous examples. Let´s think about a customer who needs to separate their traffic. Normally that would require a high investment in the creation of a new physical network. Nowadays, thanks to virtualization technology, you can create and configure a virtual network using the same physical hardware. As it happens with a VM, a virtual network needs to be isolated from other virtual networks even though they share the same physical resources such as cables, routers, and switches. In summary, the flexibility offered by the virtualization of a network allows combining different physical networks in a single virtual network but or divide a physical network into several virtual networks. How does a virtual network work?The purpose of a virtual network is to establish an adequate and efficient network structure for all the applications it hosts. A virtual network must be flexible to change its structure through the software according to the service on demand. While a physical network requires switches, routers, load balancers, and firewalls in its various layers, in addition to a network adapter, in a virtual network all these technical needs are covered with network software. This is called decoupling virtualization, which means that the function of the network software to from the hardware that hosts it to be used in any other standard hardware. There are two types of virtual networks: VPN (virtual private network) and VLAN (virtual local area network). A VPN can create a virtual address space that encrypts all the traffic it sends to make it private. On the other hand, VLAN allows devices to communicate with each other without establishing routing. This is possible because the devices reside within a so-called collision domain, which gives them the possibility to receive the same packet several times.
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