Virtualization provides a superior computing environment for creating, testing and running multiple operating systems on a single hardware platform. A virtual machine (VM) is an isolated and independent piece of hardware that runs in a cloud environment. Virtual machines take advantage of increased processor power and larger memory to create a more efficient environment. Virtualization has become an essential part of computer hardware design- especially for the military, education, and healthcare sectors.

Cloud computing utilizes underclouds to provide scalable resources for hosting virtual machines. Underclouds provide high availability, portability and security within an organization’s network. It provides redundancy and disaster recovery capabilities as well as cost optimization. A cloud consists of one or many underclouds connected to one or more data centers. Data centers house the servers, storage units, switches and other technological equipment required to run the cloud’s functions. Each undercloud has several components that help with latency and scale. These include compute nodes, networking nodes, storage nodes and application nodes. Together, these components make up the cloud’s architecture.