HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATICS

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

COURSE TITLE: CLOUD COMPUTING

Individual Assignment

Review Question on Chapter 3: Virtualization

Prepared By:

Eyob Assefa…….2729/14

Instructor: Mr. Gadisa Dagne

Submission date: Jan 29, 2025

1. What is virtualization and what are its benefits?

Virtualization refers to the process of creating a virtual (rather than physical) version of
resources like operating systems, servers, storage devices, or network resources. It enables
multiple virtual machines (VMs) to run on a single physical machine, each functioning as if it
were a standalone system.

Benefits of Virtualization:

• Resource Optimization: Virtualization allows better utilization of physical hardware,

reducing waste and improving efficiency.

• Cost Savings: By running multiple VMs on a single machine, organizations save costs on
hardware procurement, energy consumption, and maintenance.

• Isolation: Each VM operates in isolation, meaning one system crash does not impact
others.

• Portability: Virtual machines can be easily moved, cloned, or backed up, facilitating
disaster recovery.

• Managed Execution: VMs can have defined resource limits (CPU, RAM, etc.), ensuring
better performance management.

2. What are the characteristics of virtualized environments?

The main characteristics of virtualized environments include:

• Isolation: Virtual machines (VMs) operate independently from one another, ensuring that
issues in one VM do not affect others.

• Portability: VMs are stored as files, enabling easy migration between physical servers.

• Aggregation: Multiple physical resources can be combined into a single virtual resource,
e.g., combining storage systems into a single logical storage pool.

• Managed Execution: Virtualization tools allow precise allocation of resources like CPU,
memory, and disk usage to each VM.

• Abstraction: Virtualized environments abstract underlying hardware, so applications can

run without worrying about the physical setup.
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3. Discuss classification or taxonomy of virtualization at different levels.

Virtualization can be classified into the following categories:

i. Execution Virtualization:

o Hardware Virtualization: Abstracts physical hardware to create virtual

machines.

o OS-level Virtualization: Creates isolated containers within the same OS.

o Programming Language Virtualization: Virtualizes execution environments for

programming languages (e.g., JVM for Java).

ii. Storage Virtualization:

o Combines physical storage devices into a logical storage pool, improving

management and flexibility.

o Types: Block-level (manages logical block storage) and File-level (manages files
and directories).

iii. Network Virtualization:

o Abstracts physical networking into virtual networks, enabling better scalability

and resource allocation.

o Examples include VLANs and software-defined networking (SDN).

iv. Desktop Virtualization:

o Allows users to access a virtual desktop environment remotely. It separates the

desktop environment from the physical machine.

v. Application Server Virtualization:

o Provides application-specific virtualization, enabling applications to run on shared

infrastructure without conflicts.

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4. Discuss the machine reference model of execution virtualization.

The machine reference model outlines how execution virtualization works. It provides a
framework for running guest operating systems (OSs) on virtualized environments. The key
components of the model include:

• Host Machine: The physical hardware running the virtualization software.

• Hypervisor: A layer that mediates access to physical hardware by virtual machines. It

ensures isolation and resource allocation.

• Guest Operating System (Guest OS): The OS running within the virtualized
environment.

• Virtual Machines (VMs): Independent operating systems and applications running on

the hypervisor.

Types of Execution Virtualization:

• Full Virtualization: Emulates complete hardware, allowing unmodified guest OS

execution.

• Paravirtualization: Requires guest OS modification to interact with the hypervisor

efficiently.

• Partial Virtualization: Only some hardware resources are virtualized.

5. What are hardware virtualization techniques?

Hardware virtualization techniques ensure efficient utilization of physical hardware by

enabling multiple VMs to run on the same server. Key techniques include:

• Hardware-Assisted Virtualization:

o Modern CPUs (Intel VT-x, AMD-V) provide direct support for virtualization,
improving performance by handling privileged instructions at the hardware level.

• Full Virtualization:

o Emulates complete hardware, enabling unmodified guest OSs to run. The

hypervisor translates guest OS requests into hardware instructions.

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 • Paravirtualization:

o The guest OS is aware of the virtualization and communicates with the hypervisor
through special interfaces, leading to better performance than full virtualization.

• OS-Level Virtualization:

o Multiple isolated containers or instances run on the same host OS, sharing the
kernel but with isolated file systems and processes (e.g., Docker).

6. List and discuss different types of virtualizations.

Different types of virtualizations include:

• Hardware Virtualization:

o Abstracts physical hardware and provides virtual instances (VMs) to run OSs.

o Example: VMware, VirtualBox.

• Storage Virtualization:

o Combines physical storage into a virtualized pool, enabling easier management

and scalability.

o Example: RAID, SAN.

• Network Virtualization:

o Virtual networks are created on top of physical networks for flexibility and
scalability.

o Example: VLANs, SDN.

• Desktop Virtualization:

o Enables remote access to virtual desktop environments. Useful for enterprise IT.

o Example: Citrix, VMware Horizon.

• Application Virtualization:

o Isolates applications from the underlying OS, enabling compatibility and

portability.

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 o Example: Citrix XenApp.

7. What are the benefits of virtualization in the context of cloud computing?

Virtualization is foundational to cloud computing, offering benefits like:

• Scalability: Cloud providers can easily scale resources by creating new VMs or
containers.

• Cost Efficiency: Physical hardware is shared across multiple tenants, reducing costs.

• Resource Optimization: Virtualization ensures high utilization rates for CPU, memory,
and storage.

• Flexibility: Virtualized environments can be customized and migrated easily.

• Isolation: Ensures that tenants’ workloads do not interfere with one another, critical for
multi-tenant cloud environments.

8. What are the disadvantages of virtualization?

While virtualization offers many benefits, it also has disadvantages:

• Performance Overhead: Virtualization can add latency and reduce raw performance
compared to running directly on hardware.

• Compatibility Issues: Not all applications or operating systems work well in virtualized
environments.

• Complexity: Managing large-scale virtualized systems requires skilled personnel and

advanced tools.

• Security Risks: If the hypervisor is compromised, all VMs running on it are exposed to
risks.

9. What is Xen? Discuss its elements for virtualization.

Xen is an open-source hypervisor that supports both paravirtualization and hardware-assisted

virtualization.

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Key Features:

• Domains: Xen uses Dom0 (privileged domain managing hardware) and DomU
(unprivileged domains for VMs).

• Isolation: Provides strong isolation between VMs.

• Resource Allocation: Efficiently allocates resources like CPU and memory to VMs.

• Hardware Support: Compatible with modern CPUs supporting virtualization.

10. Discuss the reference model of full virtualization.

In full virtualization, the hypervisor emulates complete hardware, allowing unmodified guest
OSs to run. Key components include:

• Hypervisor: Handles privileged instructions and provides a virtual hardware

environment.

• Guest OS: Runs as if it were on physical hardware, unaware of virtualization.

• Hardware Emulation: Simulates hardware devices, such as network adapters and disk
drives.

11. Discuss the architecture of Hyper-V. Discuss its use in cloud computing.

Hyper-V is a Microsoft hypervisor that supports both paravirtualization and hardware-assisted

virtualization.

Architecture:

• Parent Partition: Manages hardware and interacts with child partitions.

• Child Partitions: Run VMs isolated from each other.

• Virtual Switch: Enables networking between VMs and external networks.

Use in Cloud Computing:

• Hyper-V is integrated into Microsoft Azure, providing scalable, multi-tenant cloud

environments. It supports advanced features like live migration and resource
optimization.