Hypervisor

As explained in Kubernetes in Action, Second Edition

A hypervisor is software that creates and manages virtual machines by allocating physical hardware resources to them.

A hypervisor is software that creates and manages virtual machines by dividing physical hardware into virtual resources. Each virtual machine runs its own operating system and kernel, allowing applications in separate machines to be isolated. section 2.1.1

Hypervisors shape how virtual machines use hardware:

• A virtual machine sends system calls to its guest operating-system kernel; the hypervisor forwards the kernel’s instructions from virtual CPUs to the host’s physical CPU. section 2.1.1
• Type 1 hypervisors run without a host operating system, while type 2 hypervisors run on top of one. section 2.1.1
• Unlike virtual machines, containers share the host kernel and rely on kernel-based isolation rather than CPU virtualization. section 2.1.1

Figure 2.2 How apps use the hardware when running in a VM vs. in a container

Trace how an application’s calls and instructions travel through a virtual machine, hypervisor, and physical hardware. section 2.1.1

How Kubernetes in Action, Second Edition covers it

How deep it goes

Explains resource splitting, syscall forwarding, CPU virtualization, and type distinctions without detailing hypervisor implementation.

Examples

Uses diagrams comparing applications running on bare metal, in virtual machines, and in containers.

What you can do after

Evaluate how virtual machines isolate applications and differ from containers in startup, kernel sharing, and hardware access.

How it connects

Connects hypervisors to virtual machines, guest operating systems, host operating systems, kernels, containers, and CPU virtualization.

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Also explained in

• 

  liveBookmanning.com
  Acing the CCNA Exam: Volume 2 Advanced Networking and SecurityA hypervisor is software or firmware that creates and manages virtual machines while allocating physical hardware resources to them.
• 

  liveBookmanning.com
  Amazon Web Services in Action, Third Edition: An in-depth guide to AWSSoftware that creates and manages virtual machines by isolating guests and scheduling their access to physical hardware.

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Related concepts

• virtual machineused by · A virtual machine is a software-based environment that emulates or implements an abstract computer system, providing an interface on which an operating system or programs can execute.
• type 1 hypervisorincludes · A type 1 hypervisor is virtualization software that runs directly on physical hardware and manages virtual machines without a general-purpose host operating system.
• type 2 hypervisorincludes · A type 2 hypervisor is virtualization software that runs on top of a host operating system to manage virtual machines.
• hypervisor-based remotingused by · Hypervisor-based remoting is remote command execution that uses a hypervisor or virtualization-management intermediary instead of direct network communication with the guest machine.
• Minikubeused by · Minikube is an open-source tool that runs a local Kubernetes cluster, typically on a single computer, for development, testing, and learning.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Kubernetes in Action, Second Edition. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.