Virtualization — page 2 of 2

Virtualization terms

101. Nonpersistent Disk All disk writes issued by software running inside a virtual machine with a nonpersistent virtual disk appear to be written to disk, but are in fact…
102. Normal (Windowed) Mode A mode of operation in which a virtual machine's display resides within the VMware Workstation console screen. See also Full Screen Mode.
103. NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access) describes a system architecture in which the machine is organized into a series of nodes containing processors and memory.
104. on-demand computing providing computing resources to meet business demands on an as needed basis.
105. operating system partitioning a feature of a standard operating system wherein isolated instances of the same host OS are created to eliminate application-level conflicts and…
106. operating system virtualization Unlike hardware virtualization and para-virtualization, the virtualization of Operating Systems only permits the creation of several virtual instances of…
107. Operating system-level virtualization In this case the virtualization layer sits between the operating system and the application programs that run on the operating system.
108. OS (operating system) the program that, after being initially loaded into the computer by a boot program, manages all the other programs in a computer and their interaction…
109. P2V (Physical to Virtual) migration migrating an operating system and its installed applications from a physical computer to a virtual machine (or a partition), without modification.
110. Pacifica A code name for AMD's version of virtualization assist, included in some 64-bit AMD processors. See AMD Virtualization.
111. Pacifica, AMD See virtualization hardware assist.
112. para-virtualization A virtualization approach that exports a modified hardware abstraction which requires operating systems to be explicitly modified and ported to run.
113. paravirtualization Para-virtualization uses a special kernel, sometimes referred to as the xen kernel or kernel-xen to virtualized another environment while using the hosts…
114. paravirtualized drivers Para-virtualized drivers are device drivers that operate on fully virtualized linux guests.
115. parent partition The partition that manages the virtual machines.
116. Partition A partition is an individual section of computer storage media such as a hard drive.
117. partitioned A characteristic of virtualization which refers to the independent nature of the virtual machines allowing them to run different operating systems on the…
118. partitioning A software technology able to create multiple instances of the same host OS, called partitions, instead of reproducing multiple different physical…
119. Persistent Disk All disk writes issued by software running inside a virtual machine are immediately and permanently written to a persistent virtual disk.
120. pervasive computing the ability to perform computing tasks from any location using a variety of devices, being brought about by the convergence of miniaturized electronics…
121. physical computer A hardware-based computer, as opposed to a software-based virtual machine.
122. Physical CPU A processor within a physical machine. See also Virtual CPU.
123. physical disk A hard disk drive in a virtual machine that is mapped to a physical drive or partition on the host machine.
124. policy-based automation policies automate resource management based on business-defined conditions such as time of day, trouble alarms, and capacity or availability issues by…
125. Preallocated Disk A type of virtual disk in which all the host disk space for the virtual machine is allocated at the time the virtual disk is created.
126. preemptive multitasking the execution of more than one program at a time on the same CPU with time-sharing strictly controlled by a scheduler.
127. processor a person who acts as a liason between your Loan Officer and the Underwriter to help facilitate the flow of paperwork which takes you from loan application…
128. Provisioning Provisioning is the act of putting a grid component into the active state so that it is available to a consumer of the service or resource it supplies.
129. RDM (Raw Device Mapping) A mechanism that enables a virtual machine to have direct access to a LUN on the physical storage subsystem (Fibre Channel or iSCSI only).
130. relocation Another term for Migration usually used to describe moving a virtual machine image across geographic locations.
131. remote memory memory that does not lie in the node from which it is being accessed.
132. SAN (Storage Area Network) A high-speed subnetwork of shared storage devices. A storage device is a machine that contains nothing but a disc or discs for storing data.
133. saved state A manner of storing a virtual machine so that it can be quickly resumed, similar to a hibernated laptop.
134. Scalability The capacity of a system to expand without requiring major reconfiguration or re-entry of data.
135. self-healing In case of failure, there will be a hot backup instance of the application ready to take over without disruption (known as failover).
136. server blade a computer system contained on a single, hot-pluggable board, for use in a blade server.
137. server consolidation Server consolidation is an approach to the efficient usage of computer server resources in order to reduce the total number of servers or server locations…
138. server containment an IT strategy to minimize server sprawl by provisioning new services on virtual machines hosted on a virtual infrastructure leading to better…
139. server rationalization executing server consolidation with a concentration on reducing management complexity, often by consolidating to a smaller number of more homogeneous…
140. server sprawl Server sprawl is a situation in which multiple, under-utilized servers take up more space and consume more resources than can be justified by their…
141. server virtualization Server virtualization is the masking of server resources, including the number and identity of individual physical servers, processors, and operating…
142. Service Console The service console boots the systems and runs support, management, and administration applications.
143. shadow pagetables A technique for hiding the layout of machine memory from a virtual machine's operating system.
144. simultaneous multithreading similar to time-slice multithreading (superthreading), except that the multiple threads introduced into the pipelines on a given clock cycle can be from…
145. SLA (Service Level Agreement) is the policy that a Cloud providing company will make to its clients to guarantee how their services will work.
146. SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessing) A computer architecture that utilizes multiple CPUs to complete individual processes simultaneously.
147. SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessor) A multiprocessor architecture in which two or more processors are connected to a single pool of shared memory. See also Uniprocessor (UP).
148. snapshot Amazon Elastic Block Store creates snapshots or backups of your volumes and stores them in Amazon S3.
149. SRAT (System Resource Allocation Table) table that keeps track of memory allocated to a virtual machine.
150. storage virtualization Physical storage resources are aggregated into storage pools,from which the logical storage is created.
151. superthreading See time-slice multithreading.
152. SVM (Secure Virtual Machine) Another name for AMD's version of virtualization assist, included in some 64-bit AMD processors. See AMD Virtualization.
153. TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) TCO analysis originated with the Gartner Group in 1987 and has since been developed into a number of different methodologies and software tools.
154. Template a standard shape that the race car must comply to be within the NASCAR rules. The template closely resembles the shape of the factory car.
155. Thrashing A situation that occurs when virtual or physical memory is not large enough to hold the full working set of a workload.
156. time-slice multithreading the ability of a CPU to issue more than one thread of the same process into multiple pipelines on the same clock cycle.
157. ubiquitous computing See pervasive computing.
158. Uniprocessor (UP) A single-processor architecture. See also Symmetric Multiprocessor (SMP).
159. utility computing While utility computing often requires a cloud-like infrastructure, its focus is on the business model on which providing the computing services are based.
160. V2P (Virtual to Physical) migration migrating an operating system its applications from a virtual machine or partition to a physical computer without modification.
161. V2V (Virtual to Virtual) migration migrating an operating system and its applications from a virtual machine or partition hosted in one virtual infrastructure to a virtual machine or…
162. Vanderpool A code name for Intel's version of virtualization assist, included in some 64-bit Intel processors. See Virtualization Technology.
163. virtual appliance A virtual appliance is a minimalistic virtual machine image designed to run under Parallels, VMWare, Xen, Microsoft Virtual PC, Virtual Iron or other…
164. Virtual CPU A system running Red Hat Virtualization has a number of virtual cpus, or vcpus.
165. Virtual Disk A file or set of files that appears as a physical disk drive to a guest operating system.
166. virtual floppy disk A file-based version of a physical floppy disk. A virtual floppy disk is stored as a file with a .vfd file name extension.
167. virtual hard disk The storage medium for a virtual machine. It can reside on any storage topology that the host operating system can access, including external devices…
168. virtual infrastructure creating a layer of abstraction between computing, storage, and networking hardware, and the operating systems running on it, resulting in a pool of…
169. Virtual Infrastructure Client (VI Client) A user interface that runs locally in a Windows machine and provides access to the virtual machine's display.
170. virtual machine See Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
171. virtual machine configuration The configuration of the resources assigned to a virtual machine. Examples include devices such as disks and network adapters, as well as memory and…
172. Virtual Machine Management Service The Hyper-V service that provides management access to virtual machines.
173. virtual machine snapshot A file-based snapshot of the state, disk data, and configuration of a virtual machine at a specific point in time.
174. virtual machines A virtual machine is a software implementation of a physical machine or programming language (for example the Java Runtime Environment or LISP).
175. virtual network A network that provides virtual circuits and that is established by using the facilities of a real network.
176. Virtual Network Manager A Hyper-V component used to create and manage virtual networks.
177. Virtual SMP A VMware proprietary technology that supports multiple virtual CPUs in a single virtual machine.
178. Virtualization A feature that allows standard users to run applications that normally write to per-computer files and registry keys.
179. Virtualization Assist A general term for technology included in some 64-bit processors from AMD and Intel that can allow 64-bit operating systems to be run in virtual machines…
180. virtualization hardware assist moving aspects of virtualization from a software hypervisor to CPU-level hardware to increase speed and efficiency.
181. Virtualization Hardware Support Industry standard servers will provide improved hardware support for virtualization.
182. Virtualization Overhead The cost difference between running an application within a virtual machine and running the same application natively.
183. VLAN (virtual local area network) partitioning available network resources into independent groups to insulate related traffic and reduce management complexity.
184. VMM (Virtual Machine Monitor) A layer of software or firmware/microcode that sits between one or more operating systems and a server.
185. VMNIC (Virtual Machine Network Interface Card) VMNIC is a virtual network interface card, connecting a Virtual Machine to a VSwitch or to a Physical Team.
186. VMware VMware is a company that provides virtualization software for x86 compatible computers. VMware Inc.
187. VMware Tools A suite of utilities and drivers that enhances the performance and functionality of your guest operating system.
188. VMware Virtual Machine Console An interface that provides access to one or more virtual machines running on the host.
189. VSMP (Virtual Symmetric Multiprocessing) providing two or more virtual processors to a single virtual machine or partition.
190. VSwitch (Virtual Switch) See virtual network.
191. VT (Virtualization Technology) Intel's version of virtualization assist, included in some 64-bit Intel processors. See also Virtualization Assist.
192. VT, Intel See virtualization hardware assist.
193. workload management ensuring the existence of sufficient resources to meet business service demands, or ensuring the ability to quickly provision them on the infrastructure.
194. x86 architecture a computer hardware platform based on the Intel family architecture begun with the 8086 and continuing to the Pentium and later families.
195. Xen Xen is an open source implementation of virtualization that is freely available at www.xensource.com.