Virtualization as the Enabling Technology of Cloud Computing

Abstract

Cloud computing is the newest paradigm in computing that turned upside down the way of resource provisioning and payment. Cloud computing improves the resource utilization through virtualization enabling both customers as well as service providers to reap the benefits. Thus virtualization is the enabling technology that made this revolution possible. Through virtualization, it is possible to host multiple independent systems on a single hardware without interfering with each other. Server virtualization techniques can be grouped based how the underlying hardware and operating systems are presented to the users. In this chapter, the author takes an in depth look at how different virtualization has been implemented along with their security and quality of service issues.