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Virtualization is a technology that allows multiple isolated computing environments, or virtual machines, to run on a single physical hardware system. Each virtual machine emulates a complete hardware platform, including CPU, memory, storage, and networking, enabling separate operating systems and applications to operate independently.

There are several forms of virtualization, including server virtualization, desktop virtualization, network function virtualization, and storage virtualization. Server virtualization consolidates workloads onto fewer machines, desktop virtualization hosts user desktops in a data center or cloud, and storage virtualization pools physical storage into virtual resources for easier management and scalability.

A hypervisor, or virtual machine monitor, is the software layer that creates and runs virtual machines. Type 1 hypervisors run directly on the host hardware, while Type 2 hypervisors run on a conventional operating system. Modern processors include hardware-assisted virtualization features, such as Intel VT-x and AMD-V, which improve performance and isolation. Virtualization can be complemented by containerization, where applications share the same OS kernel but run in isolated user spaces.

Benefits include improved resource utilization, reduced energy costs, easier provisioning and scaling, and stronger disaster recovery through rapid snapshots and live migrations. Potential drawbacks include added complexity, licensing considerations, and performance overhead for workloads with heavy I/O or latency requirements.

Virtualization plays a central role in data centers and cloud computing, enabling elasticity, multi-tenant environments, and flexible development pipelines. It has evolved from mainframe era timesharing to hardware-assisted server virtualization and, more recently, to hybrid workloads and edge deployments.