Virtual Disk Image

What Does Virtual Disk Image Mean?

A virtual disk image (VDI) is the image of a virtual hard disk or the logical disk associated with a virtual machine.

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It is used in virtualization environments to create a replica of the disk space/drive assigned to one or more virtual machines.

Techopedia Explains Virtual Disk Image

VDI is primarily a method to create a copy/image/replica of a virtual machine’s hard disk to be later used for disk backup, restoration or copying to a new virtual machine. The VDI captures and stores all information on the primary disk, typically excluding the operating system files and the virtual machine itself.

In addition to being a disk image of a virtual hard disk, a virtual disk image can also refer to the disk image of a CD, DVD or any other optical disk.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…