What is a Virtual Machine (VM)?
A Virtual Machine (VM) is a software-based computer that runs inside a real
(physical) computer. It acts just like a real computer, with its own CPU,
memory, storage, and operating system, but everything is virtual and
managed by software.
Why Use a Virtual Machine?
To run multiple operating systems (e.g., Linux or Windows)
To test sofftware in a safe, isolated environment
To simulate servers for DevOps or cloud projects
To learn and experiment without breaking your main system.
Example:
You're using a Windows laptop, but want to practice Linux
commands.Instead of buying a new laptop, you install VMware or
VirtualBox, create a Linux virtual machine, and run Linux inside a
window — just like opening an app.
What is a Server?
A server is a powerful computer or software that provides services,
resources, or data to other computers — called clients — over a network. It
"serves" data when requested. That’s why it’s called a server.
Why Are Servers Used?
To host websites and applications
To store and manage large amounts of data
To allow multiple users to access the same service or file
To ensure 24/7 access from anywhere in the world
What Does a Server Do?
Servers can provide:
Websites (Web Server)
Emails (Mail Server)
Files (File Server)
Databases (Database Server)
Applications (App Server)
Example:
When you open a website like www.google.com, your browser sends
a request to Google’s web server. The server processes your request
and sends back the webpage for you to view.
What is Virtualization?
Virtualization is the process of creating a virtual version of something like a
computer, server, storage device, or network — using software. It
allows you to run multiple virtual systems on a single physical machine.
Why Use Virtualization?
To run multiple operating systems on one device
To save money (fewer physical servers)
To isolate apps/environments (great for testing)
To quickly create, modify, or delete systems
To use resources more efficiently (CPU, memory, storage)
Example:
A company has 1 powerful server. Instead of buying 5 more servers,
they create 5 Virtual Machines on the same server — each running its
own OS and apps. This saves cost, space, and energy.
What is a Hypervisor?
A Hypervisor is a special type of software (or sometimes firmware) that allows you
to create and run virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical computer.
It manages the hardware resources (CPU, memory, disk, etc.) and shares them
across multiple VMs, keeping them isolated and secure.
Types of Hypervisors:
Type Description Use Case Examples
VMware ESXi
Bare-metal Hypervisor High performance Microsoft Hyper-
Type 1 (Runs directly on the physical Used in data V
hardware) centers KVM
Xen
VirtualBox
Hosted Hypervisor Easier to use
VMware
Type 2 (Runs on top of an existing Great for personal
Workstation
operating system) use/testing
Parallels
Why is a Hypervisor Used?
To run multiple operating systems on one machine
To isolate environments for security/testing
To save cost on hardware
To make systems easier to scale and manage
To enable fast provisioning of new servers (VMs)
Example :
A cloud provider like AWS uses Type 1 Hypervisors on its servers to host thousands
of VMs securely and efficiently for users across the world.
You, as a learner, might use VirtualBox (Type 2) to run Linux on your Windows
laptop for practice.
Physical Server VS Virtual Server
Difference Between Virtual Server and Physical Server as follows:
Feature Physical Server Virtual Server
Software-based server running
Nature Real, tangible hardware machine
inside a physical machine
Resource Uses all CPU, RAM, storage for Shares CPU, RAM, storage with
Usage itself other servers
Operating Each virtual server has its own OS
One OS runs directly on hardware
System (can be different OSes)
Easy to scale, move, clone, or
Flexibility Harder to scale or move
delete
More expensive (hardware, Cost-effective (multiple VMs on one
Cost
maintenance, power) server)
Deployme
Longer (needs setup, installation) Much faster (just create a new VM)
nt Time
Performan High performance for single- Slight overhead due to shared
ce purpose loads resources
Failure
If it crashes, all services go down One VM crash doesn't affect others
Impact
High-performance needs, Cloud computing, testing, DevOps
Use Cases
databases, legacy systems labs, isolated environments
How to Create Virtual Machine in AWS, Azure and GCP
AWS (Amazon Web Services) – EC2 Instance
1. Go to AWS Console
2. Search for EC2, click Launch Instance
3. Choose OS (Ubuntu, Windows, etc.)
4. Select instance type (e.g., t2.micro – free tier)
5. Create/select key pair (.pem file)
6. Configure settings, then Launch
7. Connect using SSH: ssh -i "your-key.pem" ubuntu@your-ip
8.
Azure – Virtual Machine
1. Go to Azure Portal
2. Search for Virtual Machines, click Create
3. Set name, region, OS (Ubuntu, Windows)
4. Choose size (e.g., B1s – free tier)
5. Set username + SSH key or password
6. Review + Create VM
7. Connect via SSH or RDP
GCP (Google Cloud Platform) – Compute Engine
1. Go to GCP Console
2. Enable Compute Engine, click Create Instance
3. Set name, zone, OS (Ubuntu, etc.)
4. Choose e2-micro (free tier)
5. Allow firewall rules (SSH/HTTP)
6. Click Create
7. Click SSH to open terminal in browser
Importance of Automation in DevOps
Why Automation Matters in DevOps :
Area How Automation Helps
Speed Speeds up code build, test, and deployment processes
Consistency Ensures same process every time (no manual mistakes)
Efficiency Saves time and effort by reducing repetitive tasks
Quality Automated testing catches bugs early
Scalability Easily scale environments and deployments
Feedback Gives real-time insights into builds, tests, and deployments
Frees up developers and ops to focus on innovation instead
Collaboration
of manual work
Examples of Automation in DevOps
Task Tool Used
Code Integration GitHub Actions, Jenkins
Testing Selenium, JUnit, PyTest
Deployment Ansible, Spinnaker, ArgoCD
Infrastructure Provisioning Terraform, AWS CloudFormation
Monitoring & Alerts Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager
Scripting in DevOps
Scripting helps DevOps engineers automate, configure, and manage cloud
infrastructure efficiently.
Comparison Table
Tool Type Language Best For
Simple tasks &
AWS CLI CLI Tool Shell/Bash
scripting
Python, Dev-centric, reusable
CDK IaC (Imperative)
TypeScript infra code
CloudFormatio AWS-native
IaC (Declarative) YAML/JSON
n (CFT) deployments
Multi-cloud
HCL
Terraform IaC (Declarative) infrastructure
(HashiCorp)
automation
Advanced
API (boto3, Python, Java,
SDK / Programming automation,
SDKs) etc.
integrations
