What Is a Hypervisor: Understanding the Fundamentals
Published: August 5, 2025
By David Nicholson
Have you ever wondered what a hypervisor is? While it may sound like a business buzzword, knowing what it is can be helpful for your business. A hypervisor is levied for software that enables the functioning of multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine. It is mostly used by organizations in the recent days due to cost effectiveness and optimization of resources. In this white paper, we will explore everything to do with hypervisors including their benefits and drawbacks, their various types, and the right one to choose for your business. Let’s discuss the basics of hyperconverged storage.
What is a Hypervisor?
A hypervisor is a type of software, also referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM), that allows for the running of multiple operating systems on a single physical machine. Hypervisor software creates and manages virtual machines (VMs) which access the physical computer’s resources.
With hypervisors, companies can achieve better infrastructure consolidation as multiple virtual machines can be deployed on a single physical computer. This not only saves money on power and cooling but also provides flexibility to deploy a myriad of applications in different environments. Additionally, there is a variety of hypervisor types to choose from.
The Different Types of Hypervisors
Hypervisors can be categorized into two types: Type 1, which runs directly on the physical hardware, and Type 2, which operates within an OS.
Type 1 hypervisors are known as “bare metal” or “native” hypervisors as they can directly access the server’s physical resources without any additional intermediary software. This results in better performance and security, as the hypervisor’s performance and security are not dependent on other external software.
Type 2 hypervisors operate on top of an existing OS, such as Windows or Linux. They depend on the OS for the allocation of hardware resources like memory and CPU time.
Type 1 & Type 2
Type 1 | These Type 1 hypervisors run directly on the host’s hardware without requiring a host operating system. This type is typically used in enterprise data centers and cloud environments due to its high performance and security features.
Type 2 | These hypervisors run within an existing operating system as an application. These are often used by individuals or small businesses for testing purposes, running multiple operating systems on a single machine, or accessing legacy software.
Another type of hypervisor is the embedded hypervisor which is pre-installed on hardware devices such as servers or storage arrays. It allows for more efficient use of resources while reducing complexity compared to installing additional software.
When choosing a hypervisor, it’s important to consider factors such as scalability, security requirements, management tools available, and compatibility with your IT environment.
Clustering Hypervisors
A hypervisor is a software component that lets multiple virtual machines run on a single physical statement. It serves as an interface managing workloads between the hardware and the virtual machines. Unlike a hypervisor which emulates hardware necessary to run multiple virtual machines, a virtual machine simulates an entire computer system, its operating system, software applications, and data. Thus, a hypervisor improves resource management and performance. There is minimal risk of virtual machines interfacing with each other on a single physical server as each one runs separately and independently. Hypervisors and virtual machines work together to enable the users to configure their customized, virtualized environments. Understanding hypervisors and virtual machines helps users make educated choices when setting up their environments.
Hypervisor vs Virtual Machine
Clustering hypervisors can transform business continuity and high availability. A cluster composed of several hypervisors makes it possible for a business to achieve redundancy and failover functionalities which ensures seamless services in the event of one or more of their servers going offline during hardware failures or maintenance.
Using this technology, service migrates from one node to another within the cluster. This dual approach improves uptime and agility during a disaster while decreasing single points of failure in the case of these distributed data centers where these clusters are deployed. There are no specific needs to be fulfilled beyond the initial planning, design, and ongoing management hypervisors. It is these overarching needs which make these solutions such a reliable option for companies hoping to achieve uninterrupted service.
The Benefits of Using Nfina’s Hypervisor
Having Nfina’s hypervisor’s advantages makes it a wonderful choice for both personal and business purposes. One of the primary advantages is the virtualization benefit that lets multiple operating systems run on a single physical server. This reduces the hardware needed for the business because multiple computers will no longer be needed to run different systems.
Using Nfina’s hypervisor has the advantage of enhanced security. Each virtual machine is separated from the other. Therefore, if there is a security breach or malware attacks, the VM can be fully contained and the other machines operating from the same server will remain unaffected.
The other benefits from Nfina’s hypervisors is granting greater control over managing CPU, memory, and storage. This grant control makes it easier to allocate resources to the most critical areas during any point in time. This also makes it easy to scale up since users can create as many new VMs as they want.
Using Nfina’s hypervisor simplifies the process of backing up data. This makes purging old data and restoring data after an outage or failure much easier.
Nfina’s hypervisor offers a range of diverse advantages for businesses and Nfina’s hypervisors are advanced tools for flexible resource management dealing with CPU, storage and memory that remaining relevant with today’s world is critical.
The Drawbacks
An issue with hypervisors is that they require significant resources to function properly. This means that you may need to invest in more powerful hardware or allocate additional resources from your existing infrastructure to ensure optimal performance.
In addition, managing multiple virtual machines can potentially become complex and time-consuming without proper planning and organization. It’s important to have a solid understanding of how each VM interacts with others on the same host, as well as any potential conflicts or compatibility issues between different VMs.
Licensing costs can also be a concern when it comes to using hypervisors. Depending on your needs and budget, you may need to purchase licenses for both the hypervisor software itself as well as any guest operating systems running within it.
While there are certainly drawbacks associated with using hypervisors, these challenges can often be mitigated through careful planning and management practices. By taking steps like implementing strong security protocols, investing in adequate hardware resources, and maintaining good organization habits when working with multiple VMs, organizations can enjoy many benefits of virtualization without experiencing too much negative impact on their day-to-day operations.
How to Choose the Right Hypervisor for Your Needs
When it comes to choosing the right hypervisor for your needs, there are several factors that you should consider. First and foremost, you need to determine what type of virtualization technology you require.
Type 1 hypervisors run directly on a host machine’s hardware, while Type 2 hypervisors run as an application on top of an existing operating system. If you’re running critical workloads or need high-performance virtualization capabilities, then a Type 1 hypervisor is likely the best choice.
Next, consider the scalability and flexibility of the hypervisor. Can it handle expanding workloads? Is it compatible with different hardware configurations? These questions will help guide your decision-making process.
It’s also important to look at cost considerations such as licensing fees and ongoing support costs. Some popular operating system options like VMware® ESXi, Microsoft® Hyper-V, Red Hat™ (IBM®) KVM, or Citrix® Hypervisor can be expensive in terms of upfront costs but offer robust features that may be worth the investment.
Consider any unique requirements specific to your business needs such as compliance regulations or integrations with other software solutions.
Selecting the right hypervisor requires careful consideration of various technical and financial factors specific to each individual organization’s needs.
Conclusion
Nfina’s hypervisor is an essential tool for any organization looking to optimize its IT infrastructure by enabling virtualization. With its ability to create multiple virtual machines on a single physical server, it allows businesses to save time and money while increasing efficiency.
When choosing the right hypervisor for your needs, it’s important to consider factors such as scalability, compatibility with existing systems, ease of use, security features, and cost-effectiveness. By taking these factors into account and doing thorough research before deciding you can ensure that you select the best option for your business.
Utilizing an Nfina hypervisor in conjunction with hyperconverged storage can provide numerous benefits including improved performance, flexibility, and streamlined management. As technology continues to evolve at breakneck speed, we can expect even more advancements in this field which will further enhance the capabilities of both hypervisors and hyperconverged storage solutions.