Linux can be used in many ways, including file servers, application server for both on-prem and cloud systems, as well as file servers. The CompTIA Linux+ exam covers virtualization and how to install Linux both as a virtual machine or as a physical system.
IT professionals need to be able to understand cloud technologies and how these tie in with Linux. This post will explain what Linux is used for in cloud computing and why it’s important for IT professionals to know this, even if they don’t use Linux.
Cloud computing is an accepted technology in modern business. Many people don’t know that the majority of cloud systems are built on Linux systems due to their reliability and scalability. These technologies are relevant to the Linux+ certification.
Linux Virtualization: Very Nearly Out of the Box
Linux plays an important role in infrastructure systems such as web and file servers. Linux systems are one of the most popular cloud systems today due to their stability and ability to run virtual environments. Virtual machines can run multiple operating system on one machine, and Linux has been used extensively in this regard in recent years.
Learn how to become a security expert with SPOTO’s Cybersecurity Training
Start trainingA hypervisor is a server that hosts multiple virtual machines. Hypervisors can be run in many different ways. The first configuration is a bare-metal hypervisor. This is a virtual machine host which runs the virtualization environment directly from its hardware. It cannot run any other applications than the virtualization platform.
This means that all virtual machines created in this environment have a direct way to access the hypervisor’s hardware. They don’t require a traditional operating system to facilitate communication between virtual machines and the hypervisor’s physical hardware. This platform is high-performance and can be used to host virtual machines in production, such as cloud providers or data centers.
Another way to run virtual machines from a hypervisor is by installing a standard operating system onto it, and then installing a virtual machine host program onto it. This means that the hypervisor’s operating system allocates resources to server, which then allocates resources to virtual machines. This is usually used in a testing environment or sandbox. This is because there are significant performance compromises due to overheads in the operating system.
These VMs can do a lot that would otherwise require multiple computers. You can test software without affecting other programs. You can also run legacy applications such as Windows XP under Ubuntu 12LTS. They are kept separate from each other’s data files to ensure they don’t infect the system drive if there is a problem during installation.
Online systems like web and application servers are often the backbone of an organization’s network. Linux is one of the most used operating systems for this purpose. Linux is a solid virtualization platform that supports multiple format templates via virtualization software. These include:
VM – Virtual Machine
OVA – Open Virtualization Format
OVF – Open Virtualization Format
YAML – YAML Isn’t Markup Language
Container images – Useful with virtualization technologies such as Docker
Each of these examples has its own function in virtualization. Some contain complete virtual machines while others contain configuration information about the virtual machine’s elements. The Hypervisor you use will determine the file type you use for your virtual machine.
Linux in the Cloud
Linux is a versatile operating system