Virtualization Stack

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What Does Virtualization Stack Mean?

A virtualization stack is a group of software components used to support a virtual environment. Items include the management console, virtual machine processes, emulated devices, management services and the user interface combined with the hypervisor.

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Techopedia Explains Virtualization Stack

In computing terminology, a stack refers to a group of resources that serve a common purpose.

Related terminology includes:

  • Hardware Virtualization: A software interface similar to the underlying hardware is created, allowing a single physical server to simultaneously support multiple guest OSs. Hardware virtualization also makes multiple physical servers appear to have the same hardware, so that guest OSs may be moved between hardware devices. The main purpose of hardware virtualization is improved hardware performance, compatibility and capacity. Paravirtualization is a commonly implemented hardware virtualization.
  • Operating System (OS) Virtualization: A virtualization technique implemented to separate an OS from hardware to facilitate OS movement across other hardware devices and coordinate with other OS instances on the same system.
  • Application Virtualization: Implemented to separate applications from the underlying OS, so that applications may run parallel to other applications while moving across other OSs.
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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret 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 IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.