The latest reports highlight that businesses experience a 50% improvement in operational efficiency after the transition to virtualization. More efficient and robust operational capabilities ensure better ROI, making it viable for businesses to opt for virtualization platforms.
This blog will explore the top five virtualization platforms in 2023 and the critical factors you must consider before finalizing your decision. Let’s dive deep into the details.
What is Virtualization?
Virtualization is the virtual delivery of computational resources to the end user. These resources include operating systems (OS), servers, storage, CPU, GPU, memory, and network resources. A hypervisor is the most integral element in a virtualization platform that translates hardware functionality by creating and managing virtual machines, stimulating a virtual environment. The hypervisor partitions the physical resources and allocates them to multiple virtual environments as needed. When virtual environments need additional resources, the hypervisor forwards the request to the physical server and caches the changes.
Hardware Compatibility and Consolidation
When opting for a virtualization platform, it is essential to assess hardware compatibility to ensure seamless integration with existing infrastructure. Additionally, consolidation plays a vital role by efficiently utilizing hardware resources and reducing costs. Organizations can optimize hardware capacity, lower power consumption, and simplify infrastructure management by consolidating multiple virtual machines onto a single physical server.
Cost-Effectiveness and Total Cost of Ownership
A cost-effective virtualization solution should provide efficient resource utilization, allowing for consolidation and maximizing hardware utilization to manage procurement and maintenance costs. Moreover, the Total cost of ownership (TCO) that includes additional expenses like guest OS licenses, training, support, migration, and advanced management tools should be part of investment planning. Opting for the all-in-one virtualization solution that offers all the required resources within transparent and budget-friendly pricing is necessary to avoid cost overruns.
Cloud Security and Disaster Recovery
Robust security practices, such as multifactor authentication (MFA), secure socket layer (SSL) encryption, and access controls, should be integral to any virtualization platform. These measures help safeguard sensitive data and protect against unauthorized access. A reliable disaster recovery mechanism like automated backups, replication, and failover capabilities contribute to an effective disaster recovery strategy.
Reliability
A low-latency virtualization platform ensures smooth operations and enhances user experience. Repetitive downtimes can severely affect businesses, leading to lost productivity, revenue, and customer trust. Therefore, choosing a virtualization platform with a proven track record of high uptime and minimal service disruptions is vital to maintaining uninterrupted operations.
Centralized Management
A virtualization platform should offer centralized management capabilities to simplify resource control, enhance monitoring capabilities, and provide a user-friendly management console. Administrators can gain insights into resource usage, performance metrics, and potential issues through centralized dashboards and reporting tools.
Technical Factors to Consider in Virtualization Platforms
Some technical factors you must consider while choosing a virtualization platform that influences application performance system reliability, scalability, ease of deployment, and resource utilization. Let’s discuss these technical aspects in detail.
Hypervisor Types – Bare-Metal or Hosted Hypervisors
Choosing between bare-metal and hosted hypervisors is crucial as it impacts the overall virtualization environment.
- Bare-metal hypervisors offer robust virtual environments and direct hardware access to enhance performance and support real-time operations.
- Hosted hypervisors run on top of an existing OS and offer flexibility for testing and running applications across different operating systems.
The hypervisor is the bridge between virtual machines and physical hardware. It ensures efficient utilization of required resources and VM-level coordination.
VM Reboot Dependency
Independent rebooting and the ability to selectively reboot virtual machines without affecting others are crucial for maintaining system uptime and minimizing disruptions. The impact of efficient rebooting mechanisms can lead to improved system reliability, reduced downtime, and streamlined maintenance processes.
Virtualization Approach
The underlying virtualization method directly influences system performance and resource utilization. For instance,
- Full virtualization enables conflict-free hosting of guest operating systems. It ensures efficient resource utilization and isolation between virtual machines.
- Hardware-assisted virtualization utilizes embedded CPU support to enhance virtual machine performance and control transfer between the guest OS(s) and the hypervisor. It reduces overhead administration tasks and improves system efficiency.
- Paravirtualization enhances performance by allowing guest operating systems to interact directly with the hypervisor through an application programming interface (API). It enables efficient resource sharing and communication while maintaining isolation between virtual machines.
Optimal selection based on the hypervisor type can result in the efficient execution of multiple OSes, seamless control transfer, and higher performance levels.
Top Virtualization Platforms You Should Consider in 2023
1. V2 Cloud
V2 Cloud is a robust virtualization platform for remote desktop and application provisioning for small and midsized businesses (SMBs). V2 Cloud’s fast, easy-to-adapt, budget-friendly virtualization platform makes it the top choice among SMBs. With V2 Cloud, businesses can securely deploy and access cloud-hosted desktops and applications securely from anywhere, on any device.
Key Features
- State-of-the-art cloud security – V2 Cloud ensures the highest level of data protection with cutting-edge security measures, safeguarding virtual desktops and applications against evolving cyber threats, potential intrusions, and unauthorized access.
- Scalability & Reliability – V2 Cloud enables businesses to sustain varying workloads without disrupting operations. It ensures reliable service delivery with 99% uptime. Users can simultaneously run multiple instances of the same application on the same device without potential clashes.
- User-friendly management console – Businesses can leverage unparalleled ease of use with V2 Cloud’s intuitive and easy-to-use management console.
- Automated backups – V2 Cloud automates the backup process, ensuring the safety and availability of your critical business data, providing peace of mind and quick recovery options in case of unforeseen incidents.
- Multi-factor authentication – Businesses can enhance the security of their virtual environment with V2 Cloud’s multi-factor authentication (MFA), adding an extra layer of protection to prevent unauthorized access.
2. Oracle VM Virtual Box
Oracle VM VirtualBox is another renowned virtualization platform. DevOps teams leverage VirtualBox to achieve cost reductions and accelerate the secure deployment of applications.
Key Features
- OS Support– Offers development environments on various operating systems, including Windows, Linus, and Mac.
- Consolidation – empowers development teams to consolidate and manage heavy workloads by supporting up to 32 virtual processors.
- 256-bit Encryption – enables secure remote access to restricted applications, preventing data download or storage by end users.
Limitation
It has limited support for advanced 3D graphics, which worsens the performance in demanding 3D rendering tasks.
3. VMware vSphere
VMware vSphere is an enterprise-grade virtualization platform renowned for its robustness and scalability. It provides organizations comprehensive tools for managing virtual environments, including high availability, resource allocation, and centralized management.
Key features
- Data Processing Unit (DPU) – for freeing up your CPU and GPU in AI/ML modeling
- Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) – for automated load balancing
- vMotion – for live VM migration without disruption to business operations
Limitation
vSphere is complex and requires skilled administrators for optimal deployment and management. Moreover, the vSphere’s costing is very complicated, involving a range of overlapping licenses and payment models.
4. Microsoft Azure Hyper-V
Microsoft Azure Hyper-V is a native hypervisor integrated into Windows Server operating systems. Hyper-V’s integration with Microsoft ecosystem tools such as System Center allows seamless management of virtualized environments.
Key Features
- Hybrid Cloud – Allows businesses to deploy their applications and data in Azure or any other data center of their choice
- Multi-OS Support – Provision Windows and Linux OS in a go
- Azure Monitor – to get insight into infrastructure health and performance
Limitation
In Hyper-V deployment, when your primary OS crashes, it eventually crashes all virtual machines. Certain applications that rely on specific hardware specifications cannot be provisioned or run within a VM. These applications can only run directly on the host operating system.
5. Citrix Workspace
Citrix Workspace is a comprehensive virtualization platform enabling organizations to deliver desktops, applications, and data to end-users securely. It provides centralized management, secure access, and simplified application deployment across different devices and platforms.
Key Features
- HDX technology – for optimized multimedia delivery and high-definition experience for virtuals apps and desktops
- Hybrid Cloud Deployment – for businesses interested in keeping in-house deployments parallel with virtualization
- Cloud-native zero-trust network access (ZTNA) – for secure remote access to cloud-hosted virtual apps and desktops
Limitation
Citrix Workspace is notorious for its pricing and technical complexity, with a steep learning curve that requires specialized expertise for efficient implementation and administration.
V2 Cloud Wins
V2 Cloud comes out on top, enabling you to go live with virtualization in just 20 minutes. Its lightning-fast VMs and intuitive software make creating and managing your virtual environment a breeze with no hidden costs. Additionally, V2 Cloud offers dedicated technical support 24/7 to assist you. It is fast, secure, and affordable!
Unlock the Potential of Virtualization with V2 Cloud
With V2 Cloud’s flexible pay-as-you-go pricing, you’ll only pay for your needs. Empowering 25,000 users globally, V2 cloud’s flat-rate pricing guarantees precise cost estimation with no hidden charges. Moreover, our enterprise-grade data centers offer high-end virtualization capabilities with minimal latency. Explore and choose V2 Cloud for unmatched performance and security. Start your risk-free trial now!