Virtualization & The Cloud Flashcards
Benefits of Virtualization
Power saving
Hardware consolidation
System management & security
Research (multiple OS support; 1 machine)
Benefits of Virtualization:
System management & security
New employees can easily be set up with a department-specific VM.
Malware/hacking done on VM will not affect physical machine. (VMs still need anti-malware/strong pws)
VMs allow snapshots/checkpoints, which saves the exact state of the machine at the time, allowing one to return to it later.
Supervisor
Handles low-level interaction among hardware & software.
Hardware > OS > Supervisor > Processes
Hypervisor
Full virtualization requires an extra layer of sophisticated programming (hypervisor) to manage the vastly more complex interaction.
VM Hardware > Hypervisor ^ v >VM
VM
Virtualization Software
VMware (Win/Linux) Microsoft Hyper-V (Win) - Free Oracle VM VirtualBox (Win/Mac/Linux) - Free VMware Fusion (Mac) Parallels Desktop (Mac) KVM (Linux) - Free
Virtualization (What it does)
Takes the hardware of the host system and allocates some portion of its power to individual virtual machines.
(Cannot turn Intel system into Nintendo 3DS)
Emulation (What it does)
An emulator is software/hardware that converts the commands to an from the host machine into an entirely different platform.
Client-Side Virtualization
Running a VM on your local system regardless of whether the VM file is stored locally or on a server that can be accessed via the network.
Creating a VM (4 Steps)
1) Set up your system’s hardware to support VMs and verify it can meet the resource requirements.
2) Install a hypervisor on your system.
3) Create a new VM that has proper virtualized hardware to support the guest OS.
4) Start the new VM & install the new guest OS exactly as you’d install it on a physical machine.
Hardware Virtualization Support
Every hypervisor runs better if you enable hardware virtualization support.
Intel = VT-x AMD = AMD-V
Can be turned on/off in BIOS/UEFI system setup.
Importance of RAM
Each VM needs just as much RAM as a physical machine.
Add enough RAM so that every VM & physical machine will run adequately.
Make sure mobo supports enough
VM Storage
VM files can be huge because they include everything installed on the VM. (Snapshots require space too)
VM Storage Recommendations
Make sure to have plenty of storage for all VMs.
Plan ahead to protect VM files with good RAID arrays & regular backups.
Use SATA or NVMe SSD for best performance.
Internal Networking (Virtualization)
Used in order to create a network in which the VMs inside the hypervisor are connected to one another (nothing else).
Set virtual NICs to internal network in VM software.
(Every VM on hypervisor will act as though connected to its own switch)
Bridged Networking (Virtualization)
Used to connect to the internet. (Virtual NIC bridges the real NIC to get out to the network).
VM uses same network as host machine.
(VM is subject to all the same security risks)
Most VMs use bridged networking by default.
How to Enable Hyper-V
Control Panel > Programs & Features >
Turn Windows Features On/Off > Check Hyper-V
Bare-Metal Hypervisor
AKA: Type 1 Hypervisor
Removing the host OS altogether and installing nothing but a hypervisor.
Type 1: Hardware > Hypervisor > VMs
Type 2: Hardware > Host OS > Supervisor > Hypervisor > VMs
ESX
Now ESXi (VMware Bare-Metal Hypervisor)
A tiny OS/hypervisor that’s often installed on something other than a hard drive (typically flash memory).
Everything is mostly done through a web interface.
IaaS
Infrastructure as a Service:
Using virtualization to minimize idle hardware, protect against data loss & downtime, and respond to spikes in demand.
Using providers like AWS (Amazon Web Services) to launch new virtual servers using an OS of choice on demand for pennies an hour. (Billed by usage)
Great for web applications (can add as many virtual servers as needed with unlimited storage, caching, media hosting, and more)
PaaS
Platform as a Service:
PaaS provider gives programmers all the tools they need to deploy, administer, & maintain a web app.
Provider starts with some form of infrastructure (IaaS) and builds a platform. Platform is a complete deployment & management system to handle every aspect of a web app.
Allows developer to just focus on the web app itself, and removes repetitive, tedious tasks.
SaaS
Software as a Service:
Basically any web app accessed through the internet that provides a service.
No ownership, no installation, no download.
Easer to budget & keep users up to date.
Public Cloud
Software, platforms, & infrastructure delivered through networks that the general public can use (The Cloud)
Not publicly owned, just publicly accessed.
Private Cloud
An internal cloud where the user has complete ownership of the data.
Suitable for security-minded companies with enough budget. (Data doesn’t have to be sent over the internet; less worry for where data is going)
A third party can be contracted to host it.
Community Cloud
A private cloud paid for and used by more than one organization (i.e. a group of organization with similar goals/needs).
Hybrid Cloud
A combination of public, private, & community clouds that allows communication between them.
Can mean not having to maintain a private cloud powerful enough to meet peak demand.
Cloud Bursting
An application can grow into a public cloud instead of grind to a halt (hybrid cloud).
Why Cloud? (9 Reasons)
Virtualization Shared Resources Rapid Elasticity On-Demand Resource Pooling Measured & Metered Service Cloud-Based Applications Cloud-Based Virtual Desktops Cloud File Storage Services
Why Cloud?: Virtualization
The cloud could not happen without virtualization’s ability to save power, resources, recovery, & security.
Why Cloud?: Shared Resources
Hardware can be combined and shared.
Resources can be both internal/external & apply to one or many machines (provides flexibility).
Why Cloud?: Rapid Elasticity
You can start with a single server and get your new web app out to the public.
If app gets popular, you can easily expand your resources (ex: # of servers)
Why Cloud?: On-Demand
You can change server capacity based on demand.
The application can adjust according to current demands
Why Cloud?: Resource Pooling
You can consolidate systems’ physical & time resources.
Why Cloud?: Measured & Metered Service
Service charges can be based on web traffic, or for the time that each of the servers are running.
Why Cloud?: Cloud-Based Applications
Software can be accessed without need for installation/upgrading manually.
Virtual App Streaming (Makes apps available for smart devices connected to internet)
Why Cloud?: Cloud-Based Virtual Desktops
Accessing a VM through the cloud.
Can access a very powerful machine from a basic laptop.
Why Cloud?: Cloud File Storage Services
Include synchronization apps so you can have the same version of every file in multiple places (desktop/laptop/online).
