Virtualization: An In-Depth Explanation

Background

In traditional computing, a single physical server runs a single operating system, and applications are installed directly on that OS. This approach has limitations, such as underutilization of hardware resources, difficulty in managing multiple servers, and lack of flexibility in scaling.

Virtualization addresses these challenges by introducing a layer of abstraction between the hardware and the operating system. It enables the creation of multiple virtual instances, each running its own operating system and applications, on a single physical server. This technology has become fundamental in modern data centers and cloud computing environments.

Components of Virtualization

1. Hypervisor (Virtual Machine Monitor):
   • The hypervisor is a crucial component of virtualization. It sits between the hardware and the operating systems, managing and allocating resources to virtual machines (VMs).
   • There are two types of hypervisors: Type 1 (bare-metal) runs directly on the hardware, while Type 2 (hosted) runs on top of an existing operating system.
2. Virtual Machines (VMs):
   • VMs are the instances created by the hypervisor. Each VM operates as an independent computer with its own virtualized hardware, including CPU, memory, storage, and network interfaces.
   • Multiple VMs can run on a single physical server, allowing for efficient resource utilization.

Key Concepts in Virtualization

1. Server Virtualization:
   • In server virtualization, a physical server is divided into multiple VMs, each running its own OS. This allows for better utilization of hardware resources and easier management of servers.
2. Resource Pooling:
   • Virtualization enables the pooling of physical resources, such as CPU, memory, and storage. These resources can be dynamically allocated to VMs based on demand.
3. Isolation:
   • VMs operate independently of each other. This isolation ensures that issues in one VM do not affect others, providing a more secure and stable environment.
4. Snapshotting and Cloning:
   • Virtualization allows the creation of snapshots, which capture the state of a VM at a specific point in time. This facilitates easy backup and recovery. Cloning enables the rapid duplication of VMs for scalability.

Benefits of Virtualization

1. Server Consolidation:
   • Multiple VMs can run on a single physical server, reducing the need for a large number of physical machines. This leads to cost savings and energy efficiency.
2. Flexibility and Scalability:
   • Virtualization allows for the easy creation, modification, and scaling of VMs. This flexibility is essential in dynamic computing environments.
3. Disaster Recovery:
   • Virtualization simplifies disaster recovery by enabling the quick restoration of VMs from snapshots or backups.
4. Resource Optimization:
   • Resources can be allocated and deallocated dynamically based on workload, optimizing resource utilization.
5. Testing and Development:
   • Virtualization provides a sandbox for testing and development. VMs can be easily created, modified, and discarded without affecting the production environment.

Azure Virtual machine

Azure VMs provide infrastructure as a service (IaaS) in the form of a virtualized server without having to buy and maintain the physical hardware that runs the VM.

• Just like a physical computer, you can customize all of the software running on your VM.
• Being an IaaS service, you still need to configure, update and maintain the middleware software that runs on the VM.
• You can create and provision a VM in minutes when you select a preconfigured VM image. An image is a template used to create a VM and may already include an OS and other software, like development tools or web hosting environments.

Azure can also manage the grouping of VMs for you with features such as scale sets and availability sets.

Virtual machine scale sets

Virtual machine scale sets let you create and manage a group of identical, load-balanced VMs.

The number of VM instances can automatically increase or decrease in response to demand, or you can set it to scale based on a defined schedule.

Virtual machine availability sets

Virtual machine availability sets are another tool to help you build a more resilient, highly available environment.

Availability sets do this by grouping VMs in two ways: Update domain and Fault domain.

• Update domain: The update domain groups VMs that can be rebooted at the same time. This allows you to apply updates while knowing that only one update domain grouping will be offline at a time.
• Fault domain: The fault domain groups your VMs by common power source and network switch. This helps protect against a physical power or networking failure by having VMs in different fault domains

Azure Batch

Azure Batch enables large-scale parallel and high-performance computing (HPC) batch jobs with the ability to scale to tens, hundreds, or thousands of VMs.

What is Azure Virtual Desktop?

Azure Virtual Desktop is a desktop and application virtualization service that runs on the cloud. It enables your users to use a cloud-hosted version of Windows from any location.

Why?

• Support on all platforms: Azure Virtual Desktop works across devices like Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux.
• Provide the best user experience: Users have the freedom to connect to Azure Virtual Desktop with any device over the internet. It feels the same as working on a physical device.
• Enhance security: Azure Virtual Desktop provides centralized security management for users’ desktops with Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). It separates your application data and OS from users’ hardware making it highly secure.
• Simplified management: Since being an Azure service, easily provisioned and ready to use.
• Multi-session Windows 10 deployment: Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session, allows multiple concurrent users on a single VM.

Types of Virtual Machines on Azure

Azure provides a variety of virtual machine (VM) offerings to cater to different workload requirements. Each VM type is designed with specific hardware configurations to meet diverse performance and scalability needs.

General Purpose VMs

Example: Standard_D2s_v3

• Description: General-purpose VMs are well-balanced machines suitable for a variety of workloads. They offer a good balance of CPU-to-memory ratio and are suitable for development, testing, and small to medium-sized databases.
• Use Case: Hosting websites, lightweight applications, or development and testing environments.

Compute Optimized VMs

Example: Standard_F2s_v2

• Description: Compute optimized VMs are designed for compute-intensive workloads that require high CPU power. They provide a high CPU-to-memory ratio, making them suitable for data analytics and computational tasks.
• Use Case: Batch processing, gaming applications, and other CPU-intensive workloads.

Memory Optimized VMs

Example: Standard_E16s_v3

• Description: Memory optimized VMs are tailored for memory-intensive applications. They provide a high memory-to-CPU ratio, making them suitable for databases, in-memory caching, and analytics.
• Use Case: Running large databases, in-memory caching, and analytics applications.

Storage Optimized VMs

Example: Standard_L8s_v2

• Description: Storage optimized VMs are designed for workloads that require high storage throughput and I/O performance. They provide high local disk throughput, making them suitable for big data and large databases.
• Use Case: Big data applications, data warehousing, and large-scale databases.

GPU VMs

Example: Standard_NC6s_v3

• Description: GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) VMs are equipped with powerful graphics processors, suitable for graphics-intensive applications and parallel processing tasks.
• Use Case: Machine learning, graphics rendering, and simulations that require GPU acceleration.

High-Performance Compute VMs

Example: Standard_H16r

• Description: High-Performance Compute VMs are designed for demanding, parallel processing and high-performance computing (HPC) applications.
• Use Case: Simulations, modeling, and scenarios that require massive parallel processing.

Burstable VMs

Example: B1s

• Description: Burstable VMs provide a baseline level of CPU performance with the ability to burst above the baseline for a certain period. They are cost-effective for workloads with varying CPU usage.
• Use Case: Development and testing environments, small websites, and applications with variable workloads.

Useful link

Azure Virtual Machine Series

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/pricing/details/virtual-machines/series

Jenkins Installation Steps

https://github.com/iam-veeramalla/Jenkins-Zero-To-Hero

Download Git Bash

https://git-scm.com/downloads