{"id":3490,"date":"2014-07-15T15:00:01","date_gmt":"2014-07-15T15:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backupassist.com\/blog\/?p=3490"},"modified":"2019-11-07T07:48:35","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T07:48:35","slug":"competitors-changing-virtual-machines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backupassist.com\/blog\/competitors-changing-virtual-machines","title":{"rendered":"Your competitors are changing to virtual machines \u2013 should you?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There\u2019s a lot of hype about virtual machines.  It\u2019s nothing new; lots of companies have been steadily making the shift towards virtualization for years now.  Chances are your competitors are already using them, so should you be?  Will they really revolutionize IT for your business?  Are they really worth the investment?<\/p>\n

Woah, so many questions!  Relax.  We have the answers you need.<\/p>\n

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In this article, we\u2019ll give you a rundown of what exactly the big deal is about virtual machines.  Plus, we\u2019ll look at how they can benefit your business. Although there are plenty of virtualization options out there, we\u2019re going to focus mainly on Hyper-V.  Why?  Because we\u2019re of the opinion that it has some considerable advantages over other platforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Okay, let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n

Covering the bases \u2013 what the heck is a virtual machine?<\/h2>\n

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So you’ve heard the term “virtual machine” thrown around, but you’re not actually 100% on what it means?  Don’t feel bad, while your IT department might be snickering behind your back, we can guarantee that you’re not alone.  There\u2019s no need to be intimidated by how techy it sounds, because while Virtualization is a pretty complex process at the micro level, on a grand scale it\u2019s an exceedingly simple concept.<\/p>\n

Essentially, a virtual machine is a software emulation of a physical computer.  Still not simple enough? Again, no judgment here! It\u2019s a computer program that behaves like an actual plastic-and-metal-bits-computer.  This effectively allows one physical computer to perform the roles of many, or to put it another way; it allows one physical server to host multiple virtual machines.<\/p>\n

The point of a virtual machine is to provide the functions of a physical computer, for example: you can have multiple operating systems each running in their own virtual environment. The physical server hosts the environments and uses virtual machine technology to allocate physical resources like hard disk space and memory to each virtual machine.  The two most common virtual machine technologies are VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V<\/p>\n

So how on Earth does this benefit your business?  Well, let\u2019s take Microsoft Hyper-V as an example and see how it can help.<\/p>\n

Advantages of Hyper-V over a physical machine<\/span><\/h2>\n

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There\u2019s got to be some advantages to a virtual machine, right?  Otherwise why all the hype?  Well, yes.  There are indeed some distinct benefits that a virtualized system like Hyper-V can offer your business.  These include:<\/p>\n