A Hypervisor is a software layer that is used to create, run, and manage multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine. It allocates and manages hardware resources such as CPU, memory, storage, and network among virtual machines while ensuring that each virtual machine runs independently and securely with its own operating system and applications.
A Hypervisor is a software layer that enables virtualization by creating and managing multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical computer.
It controls and allocates:
to different virtual machines.
👉 Hypervisor = Virtual Machine Manager
It allows one physical computer to behave like many computers.
It sits between:
Physical Hardware and Virtual Machines
It ensures:
Without hypervisor:
With hypervisor:
Imagine a hotel:
Manager assigns rooms and resources to guests.
There are two main types of hypervisors:
1️⃣ Type 1 – Bare Metal Hypervisor
2️⃣ Type 2 – Hosted Hypervisor
A Bare Metal Hypervisor (also called Type 1 Hypervisor) is a hypervisor that runs directly on the physical hardware without any host operating system in between.
It controls hardware resources and creates virtual machines (VMs) on top of it.
It offers better Performance and Security.
👉 Bare Metal Hypervisor = Hypervisor installed directly on server hardware.
There is no Windows or Linux host OS under it.
Flow:
Physical Hardware → Hypervisor → Virtual Machines
Because it:
✔ High performance
✔ Strong VM isolation
✔ Enterprise-level reliability
✔ Used in data centers
✖ Requires dedicated hardware
✖ More complex configuration
✖ Needs technical expertise
A Hosted Hypervisor (also called Type 2 Hypervisor) is a hypervisor that runs on top of an existing operating system like Windows or Linux.
It is installed like a normal software application.
It is mostly used for Personal and Testing purposes.
👉 Hosted Hypervisor = Virtualization software installed inside Windows or Linux.
There is a Host OS between hardware and hypervisor.
Flow:
Physical Hardware → Host Operating System → Hypervisor → Virtual Machines
So the hypervisor depends on the host OS to access hardware.
1️⃣ You install Windows on your PC
2️⃣ You install VMware Workstation
3️⃣ VMware creates virtual machines
4️⃣ VMs run inside Windows
✔ Easy to install
✔ No dedicated server required
✔ Good for students and developers
✔ Suitable for testing & labs
✖ Performance lower than Type 1
✖ Depends on host OS stability
✖ Less secure than bare metal hypervisor
A student installs:
That is Hosted Hypervisor in action.
Type 1 is suitable for enterprise use, while Type 2 is good for Individual or small-scale use.
| Feature | Hosted (Type 2) | Bare Metal (Type 1) |
| Runs On | Host OS | Direct hardware |
| Performance | Moderate | High |
| Usage | Labs & Testing | Enterprise |
| Example | VMware Workstation | ESXi |
