Virtuaalilevyä

Virtuaalilevyä, often translated as virtual disk or virtual drive, refers to a software-based representation of a storage device. It functions similarly to a physical hard drive, SSD, or CD/DVD drive but exists entirely within a computer's memory or as a file on a physical storage medium. This allows for greater flexibility and efficiency in managing storage resources.

The primary application of virtuaalilevyjä is in virtualization environments. When running a virtual machine, a virtuaalilevyä is created to serve as the virtual machine's hard drive. This virtual disk file can be stored on the host machine's physical storage, and the virtual machine interacts with it as if it were a real, dedicated drive. This enables multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a single physical machine, each with its own isolated storage.

Another common use is for mounting disk images, such as ISO files. An ISO file, which is a disk image of an optical disc, can be mounted as a virtuaalilevyä, allowing the operating system to access its contents as if a physical CD or DVD were inserted into a drive. This eliminates the need for physical media for software installation or data access.

Virtuaalilevyjä can also be used for system recovery or to create portable storage solutions. By creating a virtual disk containing specific applications or data, users can easily move and access these resources across different computers without needing to install them directly. The technology offers benefits such as ease of management, efficient resource utilization, and enhanced portability.