Introduction to Operating System Virtualization and Parallels Cloud Server

White Paper www.parallels.com Parallels © Cloud Server An Introduction to Operating System Virtualization and Parallels Cloud Server © Parallels An Introduction to Operating System Virtualization and Parallels Cloud Server 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Hardware Virtualization ........................................................................................................................... 3 Operating System Virtualization .............................................................................................................. 4 Parallels Cloud Server: Optimized for the Cloud ...................................................................................... 5 Integrated with Parallels Cloud Storage ............................................................................................ 5 Key Virtualization and Management Features of Parallels Cloud Server ................................................... 6 Intelligent Partitioning ....................................................................................................................... 6 Complete Isolation ........................................................................................................................... 6 Resource Limit Controls ................................................................................................................... 6 CPU Resource Scheduling ............................................................................................................... 7 Memory ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Disk I/O ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Disk Space ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Dynamic Resource Allocation ........................................................................................................... 7 Live Migration ................................................................................................................................... 8 Rebootless Updates ......................................................................................................................... 8 Mass Management .......................................................................................................................... 8 Key Performance-Enhancing Features of Parallels

Cloud Server ............................................................. 8 System Calls .................................................................................................................................... 8 Memory and IOPS Deduplication ..................................................................................................... 8 File System Performance ................................................................................................................. 8 Memory Management ...................................................................................................................... 9 How to Get Parallels Cloud Server .......................................................................................................... 9 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 9 Contact Us ............................................................................................................................................. 9 Table of Contents © Parallels An Introduction to Operating System Virtualization and Parallels Cloud Server 3 Introduction Two types of virtualization are in use today: hardware virtualization (generally known as hypervisors) and operating system virtualization (commonly referred to as containers). Both types of virtualization are broadly deployed, and each has its inherent benefits and drawbacks. This paper begins with an overview of both technologies, describing the benefits and drawbacks of each for cloud service providers. It then provides an overview of Parallels Cloud Server, an industry-leading operating system virtualization tech- nology that has been optimized specifically for cloud service providers. Hardware Virtualization A hypervisor solution virtualizes at the hardware level, creating a duplicate of all system resources – including the operating system, CPU, memory, and configuration files – in each virtual machine. This approach results in up to 20% more overhead on the server. As a result, it reduces the number of virtual servers that can be supported by a single physical server, as well as negatively affects overall system performance. Figure 1 shows what a hypervisor-based system looks like. Figure 1. Components of a hypervisor-based virtualization solution. The overhead and performance issues associated with hypervisor-based virtual machines become particularly acute in cloud deployments because such deployments usually consist of many very small virtual machines, with each machine generally requiring just 100 MHz of a single CPU, 1 GB of RAM, and 5 GB of disk space. Because a fixed amount of resources is needed for each virtual machine, regardless of its size, the relative overhead of each virtual machine gets bigger as the virtual machine gets smaller. Hypervisors further reduce efficiency in several ways: • A single application has two operating systems to traverse: the guest-level operating system (used inside the virtual server) and the host operating system. More processing equates to slower responses and more overhead. • Each operating system takes space in memory, and memory is always the most constrained resource on a server. While some vendors have taken steps to maximize memory usage, inefficiencies still exist. • Duplicate operating systems consume hard drive space and must be licensed and managed separately, increasing maintenance costs. © Parallels An Introduction...

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