VMware is the world’s leading provider of virtualization solutions for x86-based servers and desktops. Through a pioneering approach to virtualization, VMware technology works to separate the software from the underlying hardware. This allows a single computer to run multiple operating systems and applications, delivering significant improvements in efficiency, availability, flexibility and manageability.
Founded in 1998, VMware is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with offices around the world. VMware’s customer base consists of more than 20,000 organizations of all sizes, including 100% of Fortune 100 companies. VMware delivers technology designed to substantially lower IT costs, provide more flexibility in choosing operating systems, and offer a more automated and resilient systems infrastructure capable of responding to variable business demands.
What is Virtualization?
Virtualization is a proven software technology that is rapidly transforming the IT landscape and fundamentally changing the way that people compute.
Today’s powerful x86 computer hardware was originally designed to run only a single operating system and a single application, but virtualization breaks that bond, making it possible to run multiple operating systems and multiple applications on the same computer at the same time, increasing the utilization and flexibility of hardware.
Virtualization is a technology that can benefit anyone who uses a computer, from IT professionals and Mac enthusiasts to commercial businesses and government organizations. Join the millions of people around the world who use virtualization to save time, money and energy while achieving more with the computer hardware they already own.
How Does Virtualization Work?
In essence, virtualization lets you transform hardware into software. Use software such as VMware ESX Server to transform or “virtualize” the hardware resources of an x86-based computer—including the CPU, RAM, hard disk and network controller—to create a fully functional virtual machine that can run its own operating system and applications just like a “real” computer.
Multiple virtual machines share hardware resources without interfering with each other so that you can safely run several operating systems and applications at the same time on a single computer.
The VMware Approach to Virtualization
The VMware approach to virtualization inserts a thin layer of software directly on the computer hardware or on a host operating system. This software layer creates virtual machines and contains a virtual machine monitor or “hypervisor” that allocates hardware resources dynamically and transparently so that multiple operating systems can run concurrently on a single physical computer without even knowing it.
