According to Smith and Nair (2005), the perceptions held about virtual machines are discussed in the context of the software components that provide an abstract representation of the hardware on which machine instructions are executed on the bare hardware machine. Depending on the characteristics of the hardware, Ferguson (2012) broadly discussed the way to be prepared for the installation of a virtual machine.
Ferguson (2012) presents a detailed discussion on how to plan, upgrade, and install VMware ESXi. However, Smith and Nair (2005) provide a detailed discussion of the architecture of virtual machines by arguing that Virtual machines can be used at the process level by operating on top of the operating system that runs on top of the hardware.
Operating system calls and user level instructions are emulated on the native machine using the virtualising software. Virtual machine provides support services for operating system processes by enabling access to input/output and networking functionalities through an interactive graphical user interface. VMs provide environments necessary to experiment with new software, operating systems, and networking functionalities.
According to Smith and Nair (2005), the chapter on virtual machines covers different methods and wizards that an administrator can use to create one. The strategy includes identifying the right specifications to use in order to create the virtual machine.
Virtual machines provide various benefits such as networking, supporting the use of multiple applications on a single operating system and native machine, preventing data leak and loss, and providing an autonomous environment that allows other machines to continue working when one of the machines crashes (Smith & Nair, 2005). The virtual machine enables access to the WAN, LAN, and Internet as well as to mobile platforms.
References
Ferguson, B. (2015). VCP5-DVC official cert guide. New York, USA: VMware Press.
Smith, J. E. & Nair, R. (2005). The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Architecture and Design Series. New York: Morgan Kaufmann.