ABSTRACT
Servers are made up of multiple layers of hardware and software. Together, these layers create what we know as the system. Typical server hardware components include the following: processor; memory storage devices such as hard drives, fl oppy drives and CD/DVD drives; network adapters; peripheral connectors such as USB, serial and parallel ports, and video adapters. Th e software layer of the system is made up of the operating system, the applications and the device drivers that control the hardware components. Th e device drivers that are installed on the operating system normally create a one-to-one relationship between the hardware and the operating system controlling it. Virtualization allows us to overcome the exclusive device ownership of these hardware components, which causes the physical server to be constrained into running a single operating system instance at a time.
