Virtual machines are necessary to allow you to simultaneously work on multiple computing instances. Open source hypervisor software for machines. Hypervisors are a way to manage multiple computing instances.
Many software developers and professionals desire to be able to create virtual environments. The hypervisor is here to fill this void.
What is a Hypervisor?
A hypervisor is a governing mechanism. It’s a software layer that allows the creation and operation of multiple virtual machines from a single hardware unit.
Based on how they work, a hypervisor operating system can be divided into two types: Type 1 hypervisor runs directly on the host hardware. These are also known as bare-metal or bare-metal hypervisors.
Type 2 hypervisor, on the other hand, runs on software (i.e. an operating system. Administrators use both open source hypervisors depending on their needs.
Depending on their needs and infrastructure, businesses can choose from either one of these two options. Here is a list of the top 10 open-source hypervisors that professionals use.
Top 10 Open Source Hypervisor
1. Xen
Xen is a market leader in open-source hypervisors. The Xen Project is licensed under GPLv2.
The open-source hypervisor is also available in a commercial version by Citrix or Oracle VM, just like its competitors. It supports cloud support, including Openstack Cloudstack and Cloudstack.
Xen supports the virtualization of x86 IA64 and ARM among other architectures. Xen is used to virtualize a variety of guest OS. Xen supports Windows, Solaris, and other OS versions.
2. Linux KVM
A kernel-based virtual machine (KVM), is a project that uses HNU/Linux hypervisor and was originally developed for x86 computer systems. these are top hypervisors for businesses.
It is unique in its operation. It contains a kernel module called kvm.ko, which is a loadable kernel. It turns on the hypervisor for Linux.
This allows VMs the direct access to the hypervisor hardware. It also includes kernels that are specific to the processor, such as kvm.intel.ko or kvm.amd.ko.
Many believe this hypervisor is a type 2, but is actually a type 1, as it runs directly on x86 hardware.
3. Microsoft Hyper V
Microsoft isn’t known for launching open-source hypervisor software but it did introduce Hyper-V, an evaluation product that is free to download.
Their main goal was to launch an open-source hypervisor to compete with the rest of the best in the market.
Hyper-V Server 2012, a standalone software, is free and includes all features that Microsoft has included in Windows Server 2012. These include cluster rolling and nested virtualization.
4. VMware Free ESXi
VMware, a name synonymous with proprietary products that are definitely not free, has made its premium hypervisor VMware ESXi available for download free hypervisors of charge.
Although it is not an open-source hypervisor it allows users to customize some components by downloading their source files.
However, it does have a hack. You can use the full feature-enabled version for 60 days, provided that the serial number has not been entered.
5. Oracle VirtualBox
This hypervisor type 2 can be used on all OSes, including Solaris, Linux, and Mac. It can be used with both x86 OS and x64 OS.
This product has a unique feature that allows virtual hypervisor machines to import or export using the Open Virtualization Format, which is an outstanding feature. It is VMware alternative open source.
6. Xvisor
Xvisor offers virtualization for ARMv5, ARMv7a, and x86_64 architectures. Its code can be easily ported to all 32- and 64-bit architectures, provided they have PMMU and a port of the GCC compiler.
7. VMware Workstation Player
Every enterprise should have this type 2 open-source hypervisor. It’s simple to use and has a simple, intuitive UI. It’s ideal for running OS and applications on virtual machines on hypervisor Linux or Windows.
8. OpenVZ
Open-source, container-based virtualization platform for Linux that can be used in enterprises. OpenVZ can create multiple virtual machines within a Linux container.
Administrators can use each container as a separate server. They can each reboot on their own physical servers.
9. SmartOS
It is an open-source hypervisor that uses the Unix operating system. SmartOS combines OpenSolaris technology and Linux’s Kernel-based Virtual Machine Virtualization technology.
SmartOS can also be downloaded as an ISO image. SmartOS was developed by Joyent but can be downloaded by anyone.
Administrators can choose the open-source hypervisor that they want to use, which is based upon varying factors.
It all boils down to getting the job done. Open-source hypervisors that meet their needs in the best way generally make the cut.
10. Lguest
Lguest, a lightweight hypervisor, is part of the Linux kernel version 2.6.33. It was removed from version 4.14, but it can still be installed in subsequent kernels with out-of-tree patches.
It includes para-virtualized solutions, such as a virtualized I/O system, but it is not as fancy or sophisticated as other open-source hypervisors.
It is an option to test and develop the kernel boot. It’s quite fascinating in its operation.
Lguest allocates memory, maps it to the kernel’s address space, and loads a small hypervisor from this allocated memory.
