Virtualization is a key strategy for simplifying deployment of IT resources and maximizing their utilization. Specifically, virtualization refers to the concept of abstracting physical resources such as compute cycles, data storage, and network bandwidth, and then provisioning and sharing these resources amongst multiple applications.

For example, a single server may be “virtualized” to allow multiple operating system (OS) images to run concurrently; the amount of storage available to a user on a Storage Area Network (SAN) may be dynamically adjusted on the fly; and the amount of bandwidth allocated to a given application may be boosted or reduced as required.

Virtualization began as a niche market but is rapidly gaining acceptance as the preferred way to manage and provision system resources within a network.