Virtualization and Cloud Computing

Grazed from InfoSecInstitute. Author: Editorial Staff.

In cloud computing, there are a number of components used to build the cloud infrastructure. At the lowest layer there are actual hardware components like servers, network attached storage and network components. In order to limit the possibility of spreading an infection, networks need be properly separated into multiple DMZs with limiting rules of connectivity between two networks.

The very core of cloud computing is virtualization, which is used to separate a single physical machine into multiple virtual machines in a cost-effective way. Don’t get me wrong, running and operating a cloud is certainly possible without virtualization, but requires more work and time to actually pull it off; by using virtualization, we’re basically getting a lot of the work done for free…

With virtualization, a number of virtual machines can run on the same physical computer, which makes it cost-effective, since part of the physical server resources can also be leased to other tenants. Such virtual machines are also highly portable, since they can be moved from one physical server to the other in a manner of seconds and without downtime; new virtual machines can also be easily created. Another benefit of using virtualization is the location of virtual machines in a data center – it doesn’t matter where the data center is located and the virtual machine can also be copied between the data centers with ease…

Read more from the source @ http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/virtualization-cloud-computing/

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