What's the difference between cloud and virtualization?

It’s easy to confuse virtualization and cloud, particularly because they both revolve around creating useful environments from abstract resources. However, virtualization is a technology that allows you to create multiple simulated environments or dedicated resources from a single, physical hardware system, and clouds are IT environments that abstract and share scalable resources across a network. To put it simply, virtualization is a technology, whereas cloud is an environment.

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Virtualization can make 1 resource act like many, while cloud computing lets different departments (through private cloud) or companies (through a public cloud) access a single pool of automatically provisioned resources.

Clouds are usually created to enable cloud computing, which is the act of running workloads within that system.

Cloud infrastructure can include a variety of bare-metal, virtualization, or container software that can be used to abstract and share scalable resources across a network to create a cloud. At the base of cloud computing is a stable operating system (like Linux®). This is the layer that gives users independence across public, private, and hybrid environments.

With virtualization, software called a hypervisor sits on top of physical hardware and abstracts the machine's resources, which are then made available to virtual environments called virtual machines. These resources can be raw processing power, storage, or cloud-based applications containing all the runtime code and resources required to deploy it.

If the process stops here, it's not cloud—it's just virtualization. 

Virtual resources in clouds

Virtual resources need to be allocated into centralized pools before they're called clouds. Adding a layer of management software gives administrative control over the infrastructure, platforms, applications, and data that will be used in the cloud. An automation layer is added to replace or reduce human interaction with repeatable instructions and processes, which provides the self-service component of the cloud.

You’ve created a cloud if you’ve set up an IT system that:

• Can be accessed by other computers through a network.
• Contains a repository of IT resources.
• Can be provisioned and scaled quickly.

Benefits of clouds vs virtualization

Clouds deliver the added benefits of self-service access, automated infrastructure scaling, and dynamic resource pools, which most clearly distinguish it from traditional virtualization.

Virtualization has its own benefits, such as server consolidation and improved hardware utilization, which reduces the need for power, space, and cooling in a datacenter. Virtual machines are also isolated environments, so they are a good option for testing new applications or setting up a production environment.

Cloud providers  secure the infrastructure and services they offer by protecting physical and virtual systems, implementing data encryption, and adhering to industry compliance standards like GDPR and HIPAA. They must provide robust tools for identity and access management, threat detection, secure application deployment, and disaster recovery.

Cloud providers monitor for threats and maintain secure data centers with strict physical controls while their customers are responsible for configuring services securely to protect their data. This collaboration is known as the shared responsibility model and ensures a strong security foundation while enabling customers to manage their workloads effectively.

Security in virtualization involves protecting the hypervisor, virtual machines (VMs), networks, storage, and applications through a combination of isolation, access control, and monitoring. Isolation prevents compromised systems from affecting others, while hypervisor security is maintained through updates and restricted access.

Virtualized networks are protected with firewalls, segmentation, and encryption. Storage is secured with encryption, access controls, and backups. Identity and access management (IAM) measures, such as role-based access control (RBAC) and multi-factor authentication (MFA), prevent unauthorized access, while continuous monitoring detects potential threats. Regular patching, compliance with industry regulations, and disaster recovery plans further ensure that virtualized environments remain secure and resilient.

Compliance in cloud security

Compliance with regulations and standards is a critical security consideration for businesses using cloud services because it ensures that sensitive data is protected, risks are minimized, and legal obligations are met. Many industries, such as healthcare, finance, and government, are governed by strict data protection regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS. Businesses using cloud services must ensure that their chosen cloud provider complies with these requirements to avoid penalties, legal consequences, and reputational damage.

While cloud providers offer compliance certifications and adhere to standards to demonstrate their commitment to secure practices, their customers must configure their cloud environments to manage access controls and ensure that their data-handling processes align with the necessary regulations. 

As the needs for and applications of virtualization and cloud computing evolve, many new trends emerge which will change how we use the technology and environment.

The adoption of 5G networks increases opportunities for virtualization because 5G’s high bandwidth and low latency will enable virtualized network functions (VNFs) and edge computing at scale. The integration of 5G networks and virtualization can drive advancements in smart cities, industrial automation, and immersive experiences.

As virtualization further integrates with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), AI-driven analytics can enhance resource allocation, security, and preventative maintenance in virtualized environments while ML algorithms automate routine tasks and fine-tune workloads to ensure optimal performance and operational efficiency.

Serverless computing is a model for application development in which developers create application code without provisioning or managing servers or back-end infrastructure. Despite its name, “serverless” computing simply means that the servers are invisible to developers who focus on front-end application code without interacting or managing servers. Those servers are instead managed by a cloud service provider.

Quantum cloud computing promises exponential growth in processing power, enabling faster problem-solving which could revolutionize innovation and scientific research.

AI-driven cloud management optimizes resource allocation, predicts failures, and streamlines workload management, improving performance and reliability while lowering operational costs. As cloud environments grow more complex, they become difficult to maintain if human beings are needed to manually provision and manage services. Therefore, AI has become essential for building scalable and resilient cloud infrastructures as its decision-making can be automated.

Green computing is a trend that will certainly expand its profile as the infrastructure, electricity, and cooling required for cloud computing continues to increase environmental impact. Indeed, the trends enumerated above all bring with them more demand for energy and create more waste.

Green computing is the emphasis on increasing hardware and software efficiency. It encompasses e-waste reduction as aging hardware produces immense amounts of waste each year while shortages of rare earth minerals drive demand for better recycling. 

Red Hat’s trusted products and partner ecosystem come together in 1 comprehensive virtualization solution. Migrate your virtual machines now to Red Hat® OpenShift® Virtualization, a modern application platform–based on the open source projects KVM and KubeVirt–that can run virtual machines and containers side by side. The included migration toolkit for virtualization provides the tools you need to start your migration in a few simple steps.  

Use automation to accelerate delivery with Red Hat Ansible® Automation Platform–from migration at scale to Day 2 operations and remediation. Monitor the security and performance of your VMs from a single console with Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes. 

With additional support options and partner integrations for storage, backup and disaster recovery, and networking, you can rely on Red Hat to keep your virtual infrastructure running smoothly throughout the hybrid cloud–and help you modernize when you’re ready.

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