Cloud and Virtualization Concepts

Welcome to Cloud and Virtualization Concepts! Virtualization is software used to simulate hardware. It is the fundamental technology that powers cloud computing which delivers computing resources, software or data as a service through the Internet.

Understanding virtualization starts with learning the basic components of a virtualized environment such as hardware and software. These components are the building blocks of virtualization technology and enable the creation and hosting of virtual machines to run applications more efficiently.

The Hypervisor is the essential technology for virtualization, transforming basic components into usable virtualized resources. This is the foundation of virtualization that enables the entire virtualized data center infrastructure.

A physical data center consists of three main components; servers, storage and a network. Understanding each component and how they interact provides a foundation for understanding software-defined data centers and the cloud.

Software-defined data centers (SDDCs) leverage hypervisor technology to transform physical compute, storage, and network resources into virtual resources. This virtualization forms the cloud infrastructure, enabling enterprises to scale operations and run applications efficiently.

Understanding the different types of cloud computing services and deployment models is essential. This knowledge is key to understanding how virtualization technology facilitates our modern digital world.

Virtualization's primary goal is the efficient deployment and hosting of applications. Containers present a complementary solution to virtual machines, enabling the hosting of applications and workloads without requiring a separate host operating system. Understanding container technology and its advantages links together the concepts from previous sections, providing a more complete picture of the various aspects of virtualization technology.

Innovations in virtualization technology continue even after a data center or cloud environment is established. Discover the various virtualization solutions that are crucial for enabling efficient and secure scaling of software-defined data centers and cloud environments.

Discover the extra resources NDG offers to help you master virtualization skills.

In this lab we will use the Proxmox VE hypervisor to create a virtual machine (VM) using a downloaded ISO of Debian Linux. We will work through the various hardware settings that you will need to set prior to your installation.

Once the operating system is installed, we will make adjustments to the virtual machine hardware.

In this lab we will explore how the storage of a virtual machine functions and how to save the state of a virtual machine by creating snapshots.

In this lab we will create both linked and full type clones of a virtual machine and examine the differences between the two clone types. Next, we will show methods for exporting a virtual machine to a format that makes it easy to transport.

In this lab we will look at the network capabilities of workstation. We will explore how to use and setup network types similar to those found in many real-world scenarios. The network capabilities are very beneficial for development and testing of software and applications, such as limiting bandwidth or causing packet loss scenarios.

In this lab, we will use the Proxmox VE hypervisor to create and explore a Linux container (LXC). We will deploy a Debian container and learn about the process of creating and using containers within a virtualized environment.