Virtualization

What is it?
Virtualization is the act of creating a virtual version of something such as a desktop, operating system or sever.

Why is it used?
Virtualization is important as it grants the capability to run multiple operating systems on a single computer or sever. This means there is a reduced amount of physical machines needed to achieve the same goal. It also allows you to fully utilise the processing capabilities of your physical machines as running a single operating system is unlikely to consume much resources especially if its not a demanding one such as Debian or to a lesser extent Ubuntu.

Cloud computing
Virtualization is used in cloud computing. Cloud computing essentially is the delivery of shared computing resources. Virtualization allows for users data to be separated from another user in the cloud. Virtualization lays the foundation for cloud computing.

One server many operating systems
Virtualizing your server allows you to run many different operating systems on it. If you would like to configure a new virtual server, it will take a few minutes. Physical servers will take hours to configure. This makes virtualization a lot more time efficient.

Evaluation
Virtualization allows for multiple operating systems to run on a single computer or server. Virtualization can be used for many reasons. Malicious programs can be run on virtual systems without the fear of affecting the host system. It also allows businesses to maintain less equipment and get better use from that equipment.