For example, users might employ a Type 2 hypervisor to create a Windows VM on a Mac computer to run or develop Windows software, saving the cost of buying and supporting another computer. Thus, you're limited in the number of VMs you can operate simultaneously on hosted hypervisors compared to bare-metal hypervisors.Īlthough hosted hypervisors aren't typically suited for use in data center production environments, Type 2 hypervisors are inexpensive and are often well-suited to use in limited environments such as personal computers. Any stability or security vulnerabilities in the host OS can then affect all the applications and the VMs running on the system. All storage and data traffic must traverse the host OS in addition to the OS running in a VM.
Although the Type 2 hypervisor requires an underlying OS, each VM created and managed by the hypervisor can install and use its own OS.Įnterprise data centers don't generally use hosted hypervisors because of the potential performance and security penalties posed by the underlying OS.
While the Type 2 hypervisor is running, a user can create one or more VMs and use those VMs as independent, isolated instances on a computer. Where a bare-metal hypervisor loads first and creates VMs, a Type 2 hypervisor starts and stops just like any other program. Hosted hypervisorsĪ hosted or Type 2 hypervisor is intended to run as an application under a traditional OS. Most hypervisors provide a free evaluation version that is ideal for testing, but you should consider the implications of migrating/converting to another hypervisor down the road. Of enterprise computing, so it's vital to invest time and effort in evaluating the capabilities of each hypervisor offering to determine the product that best suits your specific use case and needs.