What are Hypervisors?

Hypervisors are a crucial piece of software that makes virtualization possible. It

abstracts guest machines and the operating system they run on from the actual
hardware.

In essence, hypervisors create a virtualization layer that separates CPU / Processors,

RAM and other physical resources from the virtual machines you create.

The machine we install a hypervisor on is called a host machine, as opposed to guest

virtual machines that run on top of them.

Hypervisors emulate available resources so that guest machines can use them. No
matter what operating system you boot up with a virtual machine, it will think that actual
physical hardware is at its disposal.

From a VM’s standpoint, there is no difference between the physical and virtualized
environment. Guest machines do not know the hypervisor created them in a virtual
environment and that they share the available computing power. Since virtual machines
run simultaneously with the hardware that powers them, they are entirely dependent on
their stable operation.
 Type 1 Hypervisor. Also called bare metal or native
 Type 2 Hypervisor. Also known as hosted hypervisors.

Type 1 Hypervisor
A bare metal hypervisor (Type 1) is a layer of software we install directly on top of a
physical server and its underlying hardware.

There is no software or any operating system in between, hence the name “bare metal
hypervisor.” For this reason, type 1 hypervisors proved to provide excellent
performance and stability since they do not run inside Windows or other operating
systems.

Type 1 hypervisors are an OS themselves, a very basic one on top of which you run
virtual machines. This means that the physical machine the hypervisor is running on
serves only for virtualization purposes. You will not be able to use it for anything else.

Thus, we mostly find type 1 hypervisors in enterprise environments.

Hypervisor Type 1 Performance
Given that type 1 hypervisors are relatively simple, they do not offer many
functionalities on their own.

Once you boot up a physical server with a bare metal hypervisor installed, it displays a
command prompt-like screen. If you connect a monitor to the server, what you get to
see are some of the hardware and network details. This is usually the CPU type, the
amount of memory, the IP address and the MAC address.

Below is an example of VMware type 1 hypervisor’s screen after the server boots up.
Other type 1 hypervisors may look quite different but they also allow only simple server
configuration. This usually consists of changing the date and time, IP address,
password, and similar. In order to create virtual instances, you need a management
console on another machine. Using the console, you connect to the hypervisor on the
server to manage your virtual environment.

A management console can be web-based or a separate software package you install

on the desired machine you will use for remote management. Depending on what
functionalities you need, the license cost for management consoles changes
substantially. One of the actions you can perform include moving virtual machines
between physical servers, manually or automatically, according to the resource needs
of a VM at a given point. This migration happens without any impact to the end users.
The same goes if a piece of hardware or a whole server fails. Properly configured
management software moves virtual machines to a working server as soon as an issue
arises. Once the problem is taken care of, the restoration procedure also happens
automatically and seamlessly.

One of the best features of type 1 hypervisors is that they allow over-allocation of
physical resources.

With type 1 hypervisors, you can assign more resources to your virtual machines than
you have available. For example, if you have 128GB of RAM on your server and eight
virtual machines, you can assign 24GB of RAM to each of them. This totals to 192GB
of RAM, but VMs themselves will not actually consume all 24GB from the physical
server. The VMs think they have 24GB, while in reality they only use the amount of
RAM they need at a particular moment.

The hypervisor allocates only the amount of necessary resources for an instance to be
fully functional. This is one of the reasons all modern enterprise data centers, such as
phoenixNAP, use type 1 hypervisors.

Type 1 Vendors
There are many different hypervisor vendors available. Most provide trial periods to test
out before you decide to buy.

The licensing costs can be high if you want all those bells and whistles they offer.

These are the most common type 1 hypervisors:

VMware vSphere with ESX/ESXi as a part of the package.

VMware is an industry-leading vendor of virtualization technology, and many large data

centers run on their products. It may not be the most cost-effective solution for smaller
IT environments. If you do not need all the advanced features VMware vSphere offers,
there is a free version of this hypervisor and multiple commercial editions.

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine):

KVM is built into Linux as an added functionality. It lets you convert Linux kernel into a
hypervisor. It is sometimes confused to be a type 2 hypervisor. It actually has direct
access to hardware along with virtual machines it hosts. KVM is an open source
hypervisor that contains all features of Linux with the addition of many other
functionalities making it one of the top choices for enterprise environments. Some of
the highlights include live migration, scheduling and resource control, and higher
prioritization.

Microsoft Hyper-V:

Even though VMware’s hypervisor is higher on the ladder with numerous advanced
features, Microsoft’s Hyper-V has become a worthy opponent. Microsoft also offers a
free edition of their hypervisor, but if you want a GUI and additional functionalities, you
will have to go for one of the commercial versions. Hyper-V may not offer as many
features as VMware vSphere package, but you are still getting live migration,
replication of virtual machines, dynamic memory and many others.

Oracle VM:

This hypervisor has open source Xen at its core and is free. Advanced features are
only available in paid versions. Even though Oracle VM is essentially a stable product,
it is not as robust as vSphere, KVM or Hyper-V.

Citrix Hypervisor (formerly known as Xen Server):

 This Server virtualization platform by Citrix is best suited for enterprise environments. It
can handle all types of workloads and provides features for the most demanding tasks.
Citrix is proud of their proprietary features, such as Intel and NVIDIA enhanced
virtualized graphics and workload security with Direct Inspect APIs.

Type 2 Hypervisor
This type of hypervisor runs inside of an operating system of a physical host machine.

This is why we call type 2 hypervisors hosted hypervisors. As opposed to type 1

hypervisors that run directly on the hardware, hosted hypervisors have one software
layer underneath. What we have in this case is:
 A physical machine.
 An operating system installed on the hardware (Windows, Linux, MacOS).
 A type 2 hypervisor software within that operating system.
 The actual instances of guest virtual machines.

Type 2 hypervisors are typically found in environments with a small number of servers.

What makes them convenient is that you do not need a management console on
another machine to set up and manage virtual machines. You do all of this on the
server where you install the desired hypervisor. They are not any different from other
applications you have in your operating system.

When you launch a virtual machine, you get another window to perform all tasks.

Hypervisor Type 2 Performance

Hosted hypervisors essentially also act as management consoles for virtual machines,
you can perform any task using the inbuilt functionalities.

There is no need to install a separate piece of software on another machine to create

and maintain your virtual environment. You install and run a type 2 hypervisor as you
would any other application within your OS. You can create snapshots or clone your
virtual machines, import or export appliances, etc.

Here is one example of a type 2 hypervisor interface (VirtualBox by Oracle):

You need to be careful when allocating actual resources with this type of hypervisor.

Bare metal hypervisors can dynamically allocate available resources depending on the
current needs of a particular VM. A type 2 hypervisor occupies whatever you allocate to
a virtual machine.
When you assign 8GB of RAM to a VM, that amount will be taken up even if the VM is
not using almost any of it. If the host machine has 32GB of RAM and you create three
VMs with 8GB each, you are left with 8GB of RAM to keep the physical machine
running. Creating another VM with 8GB of ram would bring down your system. This is
especially important to remember to avoid over-allocating your resources and crashing
the host machine.

Type 2 hypervisors are convenient for testing new software and research projects.

It is possible to use one physical machine to run multiple instances with different
operating systems to test how an application behaves in each environment or to create
a specific network environment. You only need to make sure there are enough physical
resources to keep both the host and the virtual machines running.

Type 2 Vendors
As is the case with bare metal hypervisors, here we can also choose between
numerous vendors and products.

Conveniently, many type 2 hypervisors are free in their basic versions and provide
sufficient functionalities.

Some even provide advanced features and performance boosts when you install add-
on packages, free of charge. We will mention a few of the most used hosted
hypervisors:

Oracle VM VirtualBox. A free but stable product with enough features for personal use
and most use cases for smaller businesses. VirtualBox is not resource demanding, and
it has proven to be a good solution for both desktop and server virtualization. It provides
support for guest multiprocessing with up to 32 vCPUs per virtual machine, PXE
Network boot, snapshot trees, and many more.

VMware Workstation Pro / VMware Fusion. VMware Workstation Pro is a type 2

hypervisor for Windows OS. It is full of advanced features and has seamless integration
with vSphere. This allows you to move your apps between desktop and cloud
environments.

Of course, it comes with the price, and there is no free version. If you want to take a
glimpse into VMware hosted hypervisors free of charge, you can try VMware
Workstation Player. This is the basic version of the hypervisor suitable for small
sandbox environments.

For MacOS users, VMware developed Fusion that is similar to their Workstation
product. It comes with somewhat fewer features, but also carries a smaller price tag.

Windows Virtual PC. Only supports Windows 7 as a host machine and Windows OS
on guest machines. This includes multiple versions of Windows 7 and Vista, as well as
XP SP3. Virtual PC is completely free.
Parallels Desktop. A competitor to VMware Fusion. It is primarily intended for MacOS
users and offers plenty of features depending on the version you purchase. Some of
the features are network conditioning, integration with Chef/Ohai/Docker/Vagrant,
support for up to 128GB of per VM, etc.

Type 1 vs. Type 2 Hypervisor

Choosing the right type of hypervisor strictly depends on your individual needs.

The first thing you need to bear in mind is the size of the virtual environment you intend
to run.

For personal use and smaller deployments, you can go for one of the type 2
hypervisors. If budget is not an issue, VMware will not be short of any features you may
need. Otherwise, Oracle VM VirtualBox is a hypervisor that will provide most of the
functionalities you may need.

Things get more complicated with enterprise environments.

Even though type 1 hypervisors are the way to go, you need to take into consideration
many factors before you make a decision. The critical factor is usually the licensing
cost. This is where you need to pay extra attention since licensing may be per
server, per CPU or sometimes even per core. On the current market, the battle is going
on between VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V. While Hyper-V was falling behind
a few years back, it has undoubtedly become a valid choice, even for large
deployments and the same goes for KVM.

Many vendors offer multiple products and layers of licenses to accommodate any
organization. You may want to create a list of the requirements such as how many

VMs you need, maximum allowed resources per VM, nodes per cluster, specific
functionalities, and then check which of these products best fits in. Note that trial
periods can be beneficial when making a decision which hypervisor to choose.