Unit 3

Cloud Virtualization technology

Introduction to Virtualization
Virtualization in Cloud Computing is making a virtual platform of server operating system
and storage devices. This will help the user by providing multiple machines at the same time it
also allows sharing a single physical instance of resource or an application to multiple users.
Cloud Virtualizations also manage the workload by transforming traditional computing and
make it more scalable, economical and efficient.
Virtualizations in Cloud Computing rapidly integrating the fundamental way of computing. One
of the important features of virtualization is that it allows sharing of applications to multiple
customers and companies.

Cloud Computing can also be known as services and application delivered to help the virtualized
environment. This environment can be either public or private. With the help of virtualization,
the customer can maximize the resources and reduces the physical system which is in need.

Types of Virtualization
 Operating System Virtualization
 Hardware Virtualization
 Server Virtualization
 Storage Virtualization

Operating System Virtualization

In operating system virtualization in Cloud Computing, the virtual machine software installs in
the operating system of the host rather than directly on the hardware system.
The most important use of operating system virtualization is for testing the application on
different platforms or operating system. Here, the software is present in the hardware, which
allows different applications to run.

Server Virtualization
In server virtualization in Cloud Computing, the software directly installs on the server system
and use for a single physical server can divide into many servers on the demand basis and
balance the load. Used in server platform as it is flexible to use Virtual Machine rather than
physical machines. In hardware virtualizations, virtual machine software installs in the hardware
system and then it is known as hardware virtualization.
It consists of a hypervisor which use to control and monitor the process, memory, and other
hardware resources. After the completion of hardware virtualization process, the user can install
the different operating system in it and with this platform different application can use.

Storage Virtualization
In storage virtualization in Cloud Computing, a grouping is done of physical storage which is
from multiple network storage devices this is done so it looks like a single storage device.
It can implement with the help of software applications and storage virtualization is done for the
backup and recovery process. It is a sharing of the physical storage from multiple storage
devices.

How Virtualization Works?

Virtualization in Cloud Computing is a process in which the user of cloud shares the data present
in the cloud which can be application software etc. It provides a virtual environment in the cloud
which can be software hardware or any other thing.

In virtualization, the server and the software application which are required by the cloud
providers maintain by the third party and in this, the cloud provider please some amount to the
third party. It is done because it will be costly if a new version of an application is released and it
has to be introduced to the customers. It can be also explained in a way that with the help of
Hypervisor which is software the cloud customer can access server. A hypervisor is connectivity
between the server and the virtual environment and distributes the resources between different
virtual environments.
Implementation Levels of Virtualization Structures ("virtualization
hierarchy" or "virtualization layers)
 The main function of the software layer for virtualization is to virtualize the physical hardware of a host
machine into virtual resources to be used by the VMs, exclusively. This can be implemented at various
operational levels, as we will discuss shortly. The virtualization software creates the abstraction of VMs
by interposing a virtualization layer at various levels of a computer system. Common virtualization layers
include the instruction set architecture (ISA) level, hardware level, operating system level, library support
level, and application level

Virtulization in 5 abstraction levels

1. Instruction Set Architecture Level:

 Virtualization at the ISA level involves emulating one processor's instruction set
architecture on another. This enables the execution of legacy binary code designed for
different processors on newer hardware.
 It can be achieved through methods like code interpretation or dynamic binary
translation, aiming to create a virtual ISA on any hardware platform for improved
software compatibility.
Code Interpretation:
 In code interpretation, the virtualization software directly executes instructions from the guest architecture (e.g., MIPS) on the host architecture (e.g.,
x86) without prior translation.
  When a guest program is run, the interpreter program reads each instruction from the guest and translates it on-the-fly into equivalent instructions that
the host processor can execute.
 This approach is straightforward but tends to be slower because each instruction must be interpreted and translated at runtime, leading to overhead.
 Despite its performance drawbacks, code interpretation is flexible and doesn't require pre-processing or modifications to the guest binary

Dynamic Binary Translation (DBT):

 Dynamic binary translation is a technique where the virtualization software translates blocks of instructions from the guest architecture into equivalent
blocks of instructions for the host architecture ahead of execution.
 When a block of guest instructions is encountered for the first time, the virtualization software translates it into host instructions and caches the
translated block for future use.
 Subsequent executions of the same block of guest instructions use the cached translation, avoiding the overhead of re-translation.
 DBT improves performance compared to code interpretation because it reduces the need for on-the-fly translation during execution.

2. Hardware Abstraction Level:

 At the hardware level, virtualization operates directly atop the bare hardware, creating
virtualized environments for virtual machines (VMs).
 This approach abstracts computer resources such as processors, memory, and I/O devices,
allowing simultaneous utilization by multiple users.
 Examples include historic systems like IBM VM/370 and modern hypervisors like Xen,
facilitating the virtualization of x86-based machines.
3. Operating System Level:
 Operating system-level virtualization, also known as OS-level virtualization or
containerization, is a form of virtualization where multiple isolated user-space instances,
called containers, share the same operating system (OS) kernel.
Operating system-level virtualization establishes isolated containers within a single

physical server, enabling multiple OS instances to share hardware and software
resources.
 These containers mimic standalone servers and are commonly employed in virtual
hosting environments or server consolidation efforts.
 Notable implementations include Docker, offering lightweight, isolated environments for
application deployment.
4. Library Support Level:
 Virtualization at the library support level revolves around virtualizing user-level library
interfaces, such as APIs.
 It manages communication between applications and the system through API hooks,
facilitating compatibility across different platforms.
 Examples include WINE for running Windows applications on UNIX systems and
vCUDA for GPU acceleration in VM environments and WSL on windows.
5. User-Application Level:(The hosted application cannot run without that environment)
 Application-level virtualization encompasses the virtualization of entire applications as
VMs or processes.
 Applications are deployed as high-level language (HLL) VMs, allowing execution on
platforms adhering to specific abstract machine definitions.
 Other techniques include application isolation, sandboxing, or streaming, enhancing
application distribution and management.
 Instances include the Microsoft .NET CLR, Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and application
virtualization platforms like LANDesk.
Benefits of virtualization

i. Security
During the process of virtualization security is one of the important concerns. The security can
be provided with the help of firewalls, which will help to prevent unauthorized access and will
keep the data confidential. Moreover, with the help of firewall and security, the data can protect
from harmful viruses malware and other cyber threats. Encryption process also takes place with
protocols which will protect the data from other threads. So, the customer can virtualize all the
data store and can create a backup on a server in which the data can store.

ii. Flexible operations

With the help of a virtual network, the work of it professional is becoming more efficient and
agile. The network switch implement today is very easy to use, flexible and saves time. With the
help of virtualization in Cloud Computing, technical problems can solve in physical systems. It
eliminates the problem of recovering the data from crashed or corrupted devices and hence saves
time.

iii. Economical
Virtualization in Cloud Computing, save the cost for a physical system such as hardware and
servers. It stores all the data in the virtual server, which are quite economical.
It reduces the wastage, decreases the electricity bills along with the maintenance cost. Due to
this, the business can run multiple operating system and apps in a particular server.

iv. Eliminates the risk of system failure

While performing some task there are chances that the system might crash down at the wrong
time. This failure can cause damage to the company but the virtualizations help you to perform
the same task in multiple devices at the same time.

The data can store in the cloud it can retrieve anytime and with the help of any device. Moreover,
there is two working server side by side which makes the data accessible every time. Even if a
server crashes with the help of the second server the customer can access the data.

v. Flexible transfer of data

The data can transfer to the virtual server and retrieve anytime. The customers or cloud provider
don’t have to waste time finding out hard drives to find data. With the help of virtualization, it
will very easy to locate the required data and transfer them to the allotted authorities.

This transfer of data has no limit and can transfer to a long distance with the minimum charge
possible. Additional storage can also provide and the cost will be as low as possible.

Server virtualization
Server virtualization is a partition of physical servers into multiple virtual servers. Here, each
virtual server is running its own operating system and applications. It can be said that
server virtualization in cloud computing is the masking of server resources. The server is
familiar with the identity of individual physical servers. The single physical server is divided into
multiple isolated virtual servers, with the help of software. Today, the companies contain a large
number of servers but don’t use them. This result as, the waste of expensive servers. We can use
server virtualization in IT infrastructure, this can reduce cost by increasing the utilization of
existing servers. Server virtualization generally benefits from small to medium scale
applications.
Server Virtualization allows us to use resources efficiently. With the help of server virtualization,
you can eliminate the major cost of hardware. This virtualization in Cloud Computing can divide
the workload to the multiple servers and all these virtual servers are capable of performing a
dedicated task.

One of the reasons for choosing server virtualization is that a person can move the workload
between virtual machine according to the load.

Server virtualization helps to address issues at a time. This is done with the help of specially
designed software, an administrator which can convert a single physical server into virtual
machines.

The single virtual server acts like an independent physical device which can manage and operate
its own operating system. Earlier the scientists created virtual machines on supercomputers for
decades and now it is an interesting topic.

Lucid is the basic principle of working of the server virtualization. Each virtual server performs
like a unique physical device, which is capable to run its own operating system. Here software
which is specially designed for this purpose is used.

An administrator which is present in the software can convert one physical server into multiple
servers. So these multiple servers are enough to use all the machines processing power.
CPU works with multiple processors that provides the ability to run several complicated tasks
with ease. Here, the virtual server specially dedicates only to a particular task to perform better.
There are many servers which use only a small part of their overall capability.

Types of Server Virtualization

Para-Virtualization

In Para-virtualization model, simulation in trapping overhead in software virtualizations. It is

based on the hypervisor and the guest operating system and modified entry compiled for
installing it in a virtual machine.

After the modification, the overall performance is increased as the guest operating system
communicates directly with the hypervisor.

Para-virtualization is a virtualization technique that involves modifying the guest operating

system so it can interact with the hypervisor more efficiently. Unlike full virtualization, where
the guest OS is unaware that it's running in a virtualized environment, para-virtualization
requires the guest OS to be modified to use special hypercalls or API calls provided by the
hypervisor.
In para-virtualization, the guest OS kernel is aware of the virtualization layer and cooperates
with it. This allows for more efficient communication between the guest OS and the hypervisor,
resulting in better performance compared to full virtualization in some cases, especially for I/O
operations.

One significant benefit of para-virtualization is reduced overhead because the hypervisor doesn't
need to emulate hardware that the guest OS expects to see. However, it requires modifying the
guest OS kernel, which may not always be feasible or practical, particularly for proprietary or
legacy operating systems.

Xen, an open-source hypervisor, is one of the most well-known implementations of para-

virtualization. It requires a modified guest OS kernel to run efficiently. Other virtualization
platforms, such as VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and KVM, primarily use full
virtualization but may incorporate para-virtualization techniques for specific optimizations or
scenarios.

Full Virtualization

Full virtualizations can emulate the underlying hardware. It is quite similar to Para-
virtualization. Here, machine operation used by the operating system which is further used to
perform input-output or modify the system status.
The unmodified operating system can run on the top of the hypervisor. This is possible because
of the operations, which are emulated in the software and the status codes are returned with what
the real hardware would deliver.

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A Hypervisor is a layer between the operating system and hardware. The hypervisor is the
reason behind the successful running of multiple operating systems.
It can also perform tasks such as handling queues, dispatching and returning the hardware
request. Host operating system works on the top of the hypervisor, we use it to administer and
manage the virtual machines.

Types of Hypervisor
The hypervisor uses to enable server virtualization in Cloud Computing. There are two types of
hypervisor such as-

i. Bare Metal Hypervisor

The Bare-metal hypervisor is installed directly on the top of the host hardware. It manages all the
hardware resources which are installed inside the tin. The hardware resource is further allocated
to the virtual machine. VMware vSphere ESXi is an example of the bare metal hypervisor.

ii. Type-2

The second type of hypervisor runs directly on the top of the conventional operating system.
Type 2 hypervisor has some architecture limitation. They are quite popular in a nonproduction
environment and VMware Workstation for VirtualBox is the example of type-2.
However, another problem which arises is that the larger the computer network the more
complex a server will be.

We can use the virtual server for web service as web hosting services to the customers at very
low cost. In web hosting, there is no need for a separate computer as a single web server provides
an ample amount of virtual servers which are sufficient enough to handle the whole work.

Why Server Virtualization?

Server Virtualization allows us to use resources efficiently. With the help of server virtualization,
you can eliminate the major cost of hardware. This virtualization in Cloud Computing can divide
the workload to the multiple servers and all these virtual servers are capable of performing a
dedicated task.

One of the reasons for choosing server virtualization is that a person can move the workload
between virtual machine according to the load.

Server virtualization helps to address issues at a time. This is done with the help of specially
designed software, an administrator which can convert a single physical server into virtual
machines.
The single virtual server acts like an independent physical device which can manage and operate
its own operating system. Earlier the scientists created virtual machines on supercomputers for
decades and now it is an interesting topic.

Server Virtualization Benefits

i. Economical

This is one of the major benefits of server virtualization because it can divide a single server into
multiple virtual servers which eliminate the cost of physical hardware. Moreover, the
applications are no longer in need of their own server as each virtual machine on the server
operates them.

ii. Quick Deployment and Provisioning

Within minutes, you can perform the provisioning and deployment process. Here, Server
Virtualization allows replicating an existing virtual machine.

iii. Disaster Recovery

A data virtually move from one server to another, quickly and safely. You can store the data
anywhere and retrieved from anywhere, this process consumes less time and downtime will be
very less.

iv. Increase Productivity

If the physical servers are less in amount then it will be easy for them to maintain. In addition,
there are many tools available for making provision and convert services as efficiently as
possible. So, this was all about Server Virtualization in Cloud Computing. Hope you liked our
explanation.

Load balancing
Cloud load balancing is defined as the method of splitting workloads and computing properties
in a cloud computing. It enables enterprise to manage workload demands or application
demands by distributing resources among numerous computers, networks or servers. Cloud
load balancing includes holding the circulation of workload traffic and demands that exist over
the Internet.

As the traffic on the internet growing rapidly, which is about 100% annually of the present
traffic? Hence, the workload on the server growing so fast which leads to the overloading of
servers mainly for popular web server. There are two elementary solutions to overcome the
problem of overloading on the servers-

 First is a single-server solution in which the server is upgraded to a higher performance

server. However, the new server may also be overloaded soon, demanding another upgrade.
Moreover, the upgrading process is arduous and expensive.
 Second is a multiple-server solution in which a scalable service system on a cluster of
servers is built. That’s why it is more cost effective as well as more scalable to build a
server cluster system for network services.
Load balancing is beneficial with almost any type of service, like HTTP, SMTP, DNS, FTP,
and POP/IMAP. It also raises reliability through redundancy. The balancing service is provided
by a dedicated hardware device or program. Cloud-based server’s farms can attain more
precise scalability and availability using server load balancing.
Load balancing solutions can be categorized into two types –
1. Software-based load balancers: Software-based load balancers run on standard hardware
(desktop, PCs) and standard operating systems.
2. Hardware-based load balancer: Hardware-based load balancers are dedicated boxes
which include Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) adapted for a particular
use. ASICs allows high speed promoting of network traffic and are frequently used for
transport-level load balancing because hardware-based load balancing is faster in
comparison to software solution.
Major Examples of Load Balancers –
1. Direct Routing Requesting Dispatching Technique: This approach of request
dispatching is like to the one implemented in IBM’s Net Dispatcher. A real server and load
balancer share the virtual IP address. In this, load balancer takes an interface constructed
with the virtual IP address that accepts request packets and it directly routes the packet to
the selected servers.
2. Dispatcher-Based Load Balancing Cluster: A dispatcher does smart load balancing by
utilizing server availability, workload, capability and other user-defined criteria to regulate
where to send a TCP/IP request. The dispatcher module of a load balancer can split HTTP
requests among various nodes in a cluster. The dispatcher splits the load among many
servers in a cluster so the services of various nodes seem like a virtual service on an only
IP address; consumers interrelate as if it were a solo server, without having an information
about the back-end infrastructure.
3. Linux Virtual Load Balancer: It is an open source enhanced load balancing solution used
to build extremely scalable and extremely available network services such as HTTP, POP3,
FTP, SMTP, media and caching and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP). It is simple and
powerful product made for load balancing and fail-over. The load balancer itself is the
primary entry point of server cluster systems and can execute Internet Protocol Virtual
Server (IPVS), which implements transport-layer load balancing in the Linux kernel also
known as Layer-4 switching.

Infrastructure requirement for virtualization

A virtual infrastructure allows us to utilize the IT capabilities of physical resources as software
that can be used across multiple platforms. These resources are shared across multiple virtual
machines (VMs) and applications for maximum efficiency, creating a virtual infrastructure.

Our business needs are the driving force behind dynamically mapping the physical resources of
our infrastructure to applications — even as those needs evolve and change. This resource
optimization drives greater flexibility in the organization and results in lower capital and
operational costs. For example, aggregating our x86 servers along with network and storage into
a unified pool of IT resources that can be utilized by the applications when and where they’re
needed.

o Bare-metal hypervisors to enable full virtualization of each x86 computer

o Virtual infrastructure services such as resource management and consolidated backup to
optimize available resources among virtual machines
o Automation solutions that provide special capabilities to optimize a particular IT process
such as provisioning or disaster recovery

Decouple our software environment from its underlying hardware to aggregate multiple servers,
storage infrastructure and networks into shared pools of resources. Then dynamically deliver
those resources, securely and reliably, to applications as needed. This pioneering approach lets
our customers use building blocks of inexpensive industry-standard servers to build a self-
optimizing data center and deliver high levels of utilization, availability, automation and
flexibility.