A virtual machine (VM) is an document security systems merger pitfalls to avoid computer system that is emulated on the top of a physical host machine. It appears as a real computer to the user and runs different operating systems like Windows Linux or macOS. VMs are very popular because they allow multiple operating systems to be run on a single computer, which can help businesses save money.

Typically every VM is the “guest” of host machines, which provide hardware resources like processors, hard disk drives, memory and network connections. This enables a company to put multiple VMs onto the same host computer, allowing IT infrastructures to grow and shrink as needed. This flexibility can also help decrease the amount of time IT teams are able to spend on deploying and managing software updates, since they can manage it by server rather than having to manage each individual physical machine.

There are two main types of VM hypervisors that are Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 hypervisors are more performant because they run directly on a host machine without the need for an OS full-blown. Type 2 hypervisors run each VM request through the host operating system, which can slow the processing speed and result in additional burdens.

Virtual machines can aid in improving IT security and also disaster recovery. Virtual machines are not tied to the physical hardware used to create them. This makes it much easier to restore the VM in the event of a natural disaster or outage. This can prevent data loss and downtime which could have a direct impact on your company’s bottom line.