this post on the virtualofficesystems.biz website

A virtual machine is an emulated computer that runs on a physical host. It appears to the user as a real computer system and runs various operating systems such as Windows, Linux or macOS. VMs are very popular because they allow for multiple operating systems to be run on one computer, which can save businesses lots of money.

Typically, each VM is the “guest” of a host machine that provides hardware resources such as processors memory, memory, hard disk drives and network connections. This allows a business to fit multiple VMs onto the same host computer, allowing IT infrastructures to expand and shrink according to the needs. This flexibility also helps to reduce the time that IT teams spend deploying and managing software updates, since they can manage it in a server-by -server manner rather than managing each physical machine.

There are two primary kinds of VM hypervisors that are Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 hypervisors offer better performance due to the fact that they run directly on the host system, without the need for a full-blown operating system. Type 2 hypervisors route each VM request through the host operating system, which could slow down processing speed and add additional overhead.

In addition to scalability, virtual machines can also help enhance IT security and disaster recovery. Virtual machines are not tied to the underlying physical hardware. This makes it much easier to restore the VM in the event of a natural disaster or outage. This can reduce data loss and downtime which could negatively affect your company’s bottom line.