Kernel-Based Virtual Machine

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Kernel-Based Virtual Machine

A Kernel-Based Virtual Machine (KVM) is a virtualization technology that utilizes the Linux kernel to provide a hypervisor for creating and running multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single host system. It is a full virtualization solution that allows each VM to have its own virtualized hardware, including processors, memory, and I/O devices, providing a high level of isolation and security.

What does Kernel-Based Virtual Machine mean?

A Kernel-Based Virtual Machine (KVM) is an open-source virtualization technology that allows multiple virtual machines (VMs) to run on a single host operating system (OS). KVM leverages the host’s kernel to manage and isolate VMs, providing high performance and scalability.

Unlike traditional virtual machines that use their own operating systems and hypervisors, KVM VMs share the host’s kernel and hardware resources. This eliminates the need for an additional Hypervisor layer, resulting in reduced overhead and improved efficiency.

KVM VMs appear as regular processes to the host OS, making them easy to manage and monitor. They have access to the host’s hardware and can be assigned dedicated CPUs, Memory, and storage resources. The host kernel provides security isolation between VMs through virtualization extensions such as Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x) or AMD-V.

KVM supports a wide range of guest operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and *BSD variants. It also offers features such as live migration, which allows VMs to be moved between hosts without downtime.

Applications

KVM has become a popular virtualization technology for various reasons:

  • Consolidation: KVM allows multiple applications and workloads to run on a single server, increasing resource utilization and reducing hardware costs.
  • Isolation: VMs provide isolated environments, ensuring that applications and data remain secure and unaffected by other workloads on the same server.
  • Testing and development: KVM can be used to create test and development environments that are isolated from the production environment.
  • Disaster recovery: VMs can be easily backed up and restored, making them ideal for disaster recovery scenarios.
  • Cloud Computing: KVM is widely used in cloud computing platforms to provide virtualized infrastructure to customers.

History

The development of KVM began in 2006 as part of the Linux kernel. It was initially designed to provide virtualization support for Linux guest operating systems. Over time, KVM has evolved to support additional guest OSes and has gained widespread adoption in the Linux community.

In 2007, KVM was merged into the mainline Linux kernel version 2.6.20, making it a standard feature of the Linux OS. Since then, KVM has undergone continuous development, with new features and enhancements being added regularly.

Today, KVM is a mature and robust virtualization technology that powers many of the world’s largest data centers and cloud computing platforms. It is widely recognized for its performance, scalability, and open-source nature.