4ARCTIC

Virtualization Techniques

Chapter 1:

Virtualization Fundamentals
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Motivation
▪ Issues of Traditional IT systems
… … …
▪ Underused and unused IT resources

▪ Running one application/server to avoid hat one application will

crash or bring-down with another on the same environment.

▪ High maintenance and configuration costs/time

▪ Spending a lot of money powering unused server capacity

▪ Configuring, securing and upgrading several physical systems can

be a time-wasting and costly procedure

▪ Virtualization: optimize resources utilization and reduce

administration burden (complexity, time, and costs)
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▪ Services are consolidated onto the fewest number of PMs

Chapter Content

▪ Sec 1: Definition and principles of Virtualization

▪ Sec 2: History of Virtualization Evolution

▪ Sec 3: Virtualization Applications

▪ Sec 4: Virtualization Advantages Challenges

▪ Sec 6: Virtualization and Cloud

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Definition and principles of

Virtualization
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Definition and principles of Virtualization
▪ Definition: Virtualization is a technique that combines the hardware and/or software techniques
that make it possible to run several instances of operating systems or several applications on a single
or clustered physical machine(s), concurrently and separately from one other.

▪ Virtualization facilitates the abstraction of the physical characteristics of computing resources to

simplify the way in which other systems, applications, or end users interact with those resources.

▪ The resources of the physical machine (e.g., disk space, RAM, CPU) are shared with the virtual
machine (VM).

▪ A virtual machine behaves exactly like a physical computer and contains its own hardware
resources that are virtual.
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Definition and principles of Virtualization (…)
▪ Terminology

Guest OS

Virtual Machine Monitor(VMM)

Host OS
Hardware
A hardware virtualized server hosting three VMs, each one running distinct OS and user level software stack.
▪ The host system: is the main operating system that runs under the control of the hardware.

▪ The guest system: is the operating system installed inside a virtual machine.

▪ The virtual machine: an isolated environment that appears to be a whole computer, but actually only
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has access to a portion of the computer resources. It can be created using VirtualBox, for instance .
Definition and principles of Virtualization (…)
▪ Terminology

Virtual Machine Monitor(VMM)

Hardware
A hardware virtualized server hosting three VMs, each one running distinct OS and user level software stack.

▪ Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM): is the control system at the core of virtualization. It acts as the
control and translation system between the VMs and the hardware.
▪ VMM properties: Fidelity, Performance, Safety and Isolation 7
Definition and principles of Virtualization (…)
▪ Comparison between a virtualized and non-virtualized resource

Without virtualization With virtualization

▪One machine, one OS ▪Subdivision of a PM into several VMs
▪The OS manages the physical components: ▪Physical devices are shared between VMs.
▪ CPU, Memory, Hard-disk, Network adapter, ... ▪Isolates VM from each other, hence no conflict
▪Conflicts when multiple applications run on the ▪Improves resource utilization
same machine ▪Offers flexible infrastructure at low cost
▪Underutilized resources 8

▪Is inflexible and expensive

Definition and principles of Virtualization (…)
▪ Virtualization properties
▪ Binary compatibility: Each machine thinks it owns the available hardware
▪ No modification of the operating system or the applications*
▪ Interposition: All actions of a virtual machine have to go through the hypervisor.
▪ Transformations on instructions, memory, I/O
▪ Enables transparent resource overcommitment, encryption, compression, replication …
▪ Isolation:
▪ A program running in a virtual machine cannot access/disturb the data of another virtual machine.
▪ Software isolation
▪ Fault isolation
▪ A VM with high processing load cannot affect the performance of another virtual machine.
▪ Performance isolation 9
Definition and principles of Virtualization (…)
▪ Virtualization properties
▪ Encapsulation: The complete state of a virtual machine can be captured in a file:
system image
▪ The file can be manipulated like any other file: transferred, duplicated, removed, …
▪ The VM state: the dynamic memory, static memory, and the register state of the CPU and devices.
▪ Enables VM snapshots, clones

▪ Portability
▪ Independent of physical hardware
▪ Enables migration of live, running VMs

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Definition and principles of Virtualization (…)
▪ Virtualization properties
▪ Binary compatibility:
▪ Interposition:
▪ Isolation:
▪ Encapsulation:
▪ Portability

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History of Virtualization
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History of Virtualization
▪ History Timeline: Virtualization 2.0
System/360 model 67 (Server consolidation)
(CP/CMS, VM/CMS),
known as Hypervisor
VMware (X86) XEN paravirtualisation KVM/Linux (2013) Docker
QMU

2012+
1960

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

2008
IBM M44 MS virtual PC Extension VT-xAMD-V MS Hyper V
vmware ESX Virtualization 3.0
Network virtualization
▪ Virtualization has its origins in the mainframe days in the late 1960s and early Storage virtualization
Cloud computing
1970s,
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▪ IBM invested a lot of time and effort in developing robust time-sharing s°.
History of Virtualization (…)
▪ The concept of virtualization has its origins in the mainframe days in the late 1960s and early 1970s,
when IBM invested a lot of time and effort in developing robust time-sharing solutions.

▪ Around 1967, IBM introduced the System/360 model 67 (CP/CMS, VM/CMS), known as Hypervisor, its first
major system with virtual memory. Integral to the model 67 was the concept of a self-virtualizing processor
instruction set, perfected in later models into the virtual machine (VM) operating systems.

▪ In the 1970s, Hardware virtualization was pioneered on IBM mainframes

▪ The 1990s saw an explosion of emulation on x86 architecture (e.g., VMware (X86) and a remarkable
growth in the number of servers used throughout the enterprise.

▪ The 2000s are characterized by the development of virtualization software to improve the advancement
of (AMD/INTEL) hardware solutions.

▪ Advanced virtualization techniques (e.g., Network virtualization, Storage virtualization, and Cloud computing)
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have emerged from the second decennies.

Virtualization applications
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Virtualization applications

▪ Desktop virtualization

▪ Server virtualization

▪ Software/Application virtualization

▪ Network virtualization

▪ Storage virtualization

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Desktop virtualization
▪Definition: is software technology that separates the desktop environment and associated
application software from the physical client device that is used to access it.
▪ Desktop applications and data storage are moved to a centralized server to improve access and
lower costs.
▪ The virtual desktop should be connected to the server either through a network or the Internet.

▪ Several VMs equipped with an OS run on a server, itself

operating with a particular OS (i.e., hypervisor).
▪ When a user turns on his physical station, he logs on to one
of these machines.

▪ The display and sound of this virtual machine are transferred

to the physical station via the network. 17
Desktop Virtualization (…)
▪Users view and interact with their desktops over a network by using a remote display protocol.
▪ RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) pour Microsoft;
▪ Thin clients based on Linux and XPe (WYSE ThinOS models);
▪ ICA (Independent Computing Architecture) for Citrix ;
▪ PCoIP (PC over IP) for VMware ;
▪ Browser access

▪Challenges addressed by Desktop Virtualization:

▪ PC management is time consuming & inefficient
▪ Desktop operating costs are high
▪ Low end user SLA levels
▪ Security and compliance risks
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Software / Application Virtualization
▪Application virtualization is a software technology that consists of encapsulating the
application and its system execution context in a siled environment.

▪It will improve the portability and compatibility of applications

▪It allows the provision of an application running in an isolated environment, which do not
require any local installation, integration, or dependencies on the underlying computing
platform.
Application 1 Application 2 Application 3 Application n

Virtualization layer

Operating System

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Hardware
Software / Application Virtualization (…)
▪Why do we use Application virtualization ?
▪ Reduces testing costs, regardless of form factor, facilitating OS migration

▪ Streamlines application delivery to users

▪ Reduces application packaging times

▪ Reduces compatibility and regression testing by providing isolation and minimizes applications
conflicts

▪Examples:

▪ Microsoft App-V: is a tool IT administrators can use to run applications remotely and stream them
to end user,

▪ Citrix XenApp: extends Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Host (formerly known as
Terminal Services) desktop sessions and applications to users through the Citrix HDX protocol.
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Storage Virtualization
▪Is the process of masking the underlying complexity of physical storage resources and
presenting the logical view of these resources to compute systems.

▪Virtualization layer abstracts the identity of physical storage devices

▪ Creates a storage pool from multiple, heterogeneous storage arrays

▪ Virtual volumes are created from the storage pools and are
assigned to the compute system

▪ Compute system remains unaware of the mapping operation

and access the virtual volumes, as if accessing physical
storage attached to them. 21
Storage Virtualization (...)
▪Why do we use Storage virtualization ?
▪ High availability/ failover /disaster recovery
▪ The storage server fails, storage virtualization can press another device, network, or storage
server into service.
▪ Improve storage reliability, data can be reconstructed in case of failure
▪ Improve storage performance and reliability
▪ If some data is lost in a storage instance, the presence of backup copies will reinforce data
reconstruction
▪ If the workload is spread over many different storage devices, the workload can be handled
▪ Providing an easy way to share and mutualize the storage resources among several
applications
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Network Virtualization
▪The network is difficult to administer and often lacks flexibility, while the trades require more
flexibility to quickly use new applications.

▪Network virtualization can be a solution.

▪Network virtualization consists of sharing the same physical infrastructure (throughput, CPU
resources, etc.) for the benefit of several isolated virtual networks.

▪Network resources can be deployed and managed as logical services.

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Network Virtualization
▪ Improve network efficiency/Increase flexibility
▪ Reduce capital and operational costs.
▪ Maintain high standards of security, scalability,
▪ Manageability, and availability throughout the campus design

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Network Virtualization (...)
▪ Common Network Virtualization scenarios

▪ Network virtualization allows network aggregation and provisioning, combining different

physical networks into a single virtual network, or breaking a physical network into multiple
virtual networks that are isolated from each other. This is sometimes called "external
network virtualization.“
▪ A good example of an external virtual network would be VLAN technology

▪ Network virtualization can also be applied within virtual servers to create synthetic
networks between virtual machines (VMs); this is often dubbed "internal network
virtualization.“
▪ A good example of an internal virtual network would be VnetworkStack (Vyatta, Citrix) or opensolaris 25
Virtualization Advantages/

Challenges
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Virtualization Advantages
▪ Resource optimization and efficient load balancing: distribution of virtual machines on physical
machines according to the respective loads;

▪ Consolidation provides a cost and time effective mutualization (e.g., electricity consumption, physical
maintenance, monitoring, support, hardware compatibility, etc.)

▪ Easy installation, backup, deployment and migration of virtual machines and applications;

▪ Securing and / or isolating a network;

▪ Decrease the risks associated with server sizing when defining the architecture of an application, the
addition of resources become transparent;

▪ Automatic recovery during incidents. Virtualization improves prevention and fault management as well
as the system's recovery plan. 27
Virtualization Challenges
▪ Extra Costs: Virtualization tools are very resource-intensive applications and require powerful
machines that cost more than more-conventional servers. Management of new tools requires increased
headcount and training.
▪ Availability: Several virtual environments run on a single physical machine, if this machine fails, then
the services provided by the virtual environments are interrupted. Migration to virtualization without
considering an effective disaster recovery plan (Disaster Recovery Plan), can be fatal to your
information system.
▪ Congested storage network: data storage traffic can dramatically results in large amounts of data
generated from multiple guests through one host storage network connection (e.g., NFS), which can
cause instant bottlenecks, flooding, and congestion. Data pipes can’t handle the massive data volumes
▪ Complexity of Virtual Infrastructure Configuration: Although virtualization offers valuable benefits for
IT organizations, it adds levels of complexity. All the resources, both virtual and physical must be
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tracked, managed, maintained and their performance managed.

Virtualization and Cloud

Computing
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Virtualization and Cloud

▪ What is Cloud ?

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Virtualization and Cloud (...)

▪ Virtualization is not Cloud.

▪ Virtualization abstracts compute resources—typically as virtual machines (VMs)—with

associated storage and networking connectivity.

▪ The cloud determines how those virtualized resources are allocated, delivered, and
presented.

▪ Virtualization is not necessary to create a cloud environment, but it enables rapid scaling of
resources in a way that non virtualized environments find hard to achieve.

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Virtualization and Cloud (...)

▪ Virtualization as an enabling technology .

▪ Virtualization has been in data centers for several years as a successful IT strategy for
consolidating servers.

▪ Virtualization can provide the basic building blocks for your cloud environment to enhance
agility and flexibility.

▪ Today, the primary focus for virtualization continues to be on servers.

▪ This continuing growth makes cloud computing an obvious next step for many
organizations.

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