Although many people – especially end-users like business website owners – do not know it, Open Source technology has made great strides of advancement to become the leader in operating systems technology. While the whole world hears about the newest Windows version or the latest Apple gadget, almost no one (except perhaps for diehard geeks responsible for servers) knows what is happening in the world of Linux.
Well, one such technology that needs to be well recognized and highly utilized is KVM virtualization.
What is it?
Virtualization technology for servers has been around for quite some time now and over that time it has increasingly become relatively inexpensive and very practical indeed. Today there are many types of software packages that allow us to use server virtualization.
One such entity is the kernel-based virtual machine (KVM). It was designed to be used on both Intel and AMD processors making it easy to implement on any server. The idea is for it to create a virtualization infrastructure for the Linux kernel that turns it into a hypervisor.
A hypervisor is a program that allows a number of operating systems to share a server’s hardware on which they have been installed on. In the case of KVM, the Linux kernel acts as a streamliner and manager to improve the performance in the virtualized environments. The hypervisor creates virtual machine environments and optimizes the calls for the server’s resources like the processor, RAM, hard disk drives, network and bandwidth through the hosting operating system.
What operating systems can be virtualized?
The beauty of KVM is that it can be used to emulate all the well-known (and even more lesser-known) operating systems out there: Windows, Solaris, BSD, Haiku, ReactOS, Plan 9, AROS Research OS… the list keeps growing. Also, with a little more tweaking and modifications, KVM can even be used to run Mac OS X!
With KVM any Linux server can be turned into anything but.
What does a peek under the hood look like?
When KVM is installed on a Linux server, /dev/kvm (a hardware file) is created that will serve as an interface between the server’s hardware and the hypervisor (or virtual) manager. Every time a call is made for retrieval, changes and addition to (and retrieval from), the hardware via the hypervisor manger, the KVM works to address them by allocating the resources virtually by working directly with the hardware.
As an example, if an administrator wanted to change the RAM allocated to one of his virtual Windows machines, the command goes through the hypervisor manager, to the KVM, and on to the hosting Linux OS which works with the hardware to reserve the requested RAM.
What are the advantages of KVM?
Well, now that we have cleared all that up, you will probably be asking, “Yeah, but what does all that have to do with me, a business owner?”
The answer lies in the following main reasons:
- Any Operating System You Choose: when you host your website or even your whole office with a hosting provider that uses KVM you are spoilt for choices. You don’t have to be limited to any operating system.
It doesn’t matter if your website was designed using PHP, you need an MS Exchange Server and a MySQL server to run in the back ground – you can have it all up and running on one server!
- All-in-One Management: only an administrator that has had to work with multiple servers knows the hassles that come with having to juggle multiple servers – especially when they all run different operating systems.
With a server running KVM you (or whoever is responsible for running the IT part of your business) will only have to focus on one central server and nothing more.
- Cost-Effectiveness: another advantage of running KVM on a server is the fact that it will save you quiet a bundle.
Just imagine it: if you needed to buy hosting with a Windows Server and then also need another Linux server, you will be paying for two servers or hosting packages – a costly affair. Now, we all know that hosting for Windows Server is a little on the expensive side and when you add that to the second expense, you see how quick your monthly bill can climb.
Buy a hosting package with a KVM thrown in all your headaches will go away because no matter how many operating system you need, you can bunch them all together on your one server.
Oh, and before you ask, as KVM is an open source software, you don’t have to worry about licensing costs. You can create as many virtual solutions without having to worry about additional overhead of complex business architectures. This means that you don’t have any extra, unnecessary expenses that you would usually pass on to your customers and/or consumers.
In other words, you can actually make more money.
A wise business owner would try KVM right about now…
