Client Hypervisor

Definition - What does Client Hypervisor mean?

A client hypervisor is a host virtualization technique used for the execution of multiple and different OSs and/or parallel virtual machines for remote desktop or disaster recovery solutions. Designed for a client machine, such as a laptop or PC, a client hypervisor allows hardware to support more than one OS on a single platform.

Client hypervisors are included in cloud and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions.

Techopedia explains Client Hypervisor

While isolating each hosted OS, a client hypervisor also manages the operations of each hosted virtual machine by allocating hardware, computing resources and other critical applications.

There are two types of client hypervisors, as follows:

  • Bare metal: Creates a layer above the hardware layer and allocates system resources to all installed virtual machines.
  • Virtualized: Operates inside the OS as a stand-alone application and invokes the master OS for computing power and other resources.

Client hypervisor examples are Citrix XenClient and VMware View Client with Local Mode.

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