Kernel-Based Virtual Machine

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What Does Kernel-Based Virtual Machine Mean?

A kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) is a virtualization infrastructure built for Linux OS and designed to operate on x86-based processor architecture.

KVM is developed by Red Hat Corporation to provide a virtualization solution and services on the Linux operating system platform. KVM is designed over the primary Linux OS kernel.

Techopedia Explains Kernel-Based Virtual Machine

KVM is a type of hypervisor that enables, emulates and provides for the creation of virtual machines on operating systems. These machines are built on top of the Linux kernel, using operating systems such as Linux, Ubuntu and Fedora. KVM can be installed on all x86 processors and provide separate instruction set extensions for Intel and AMD processors.

KVM supports multiple different guest operating system images including Linux Kernel, Windows, BSD and Solaris. It also allocates separate virtualized computing resources for each virtual machine such as the processor, storage, memory, etc.

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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.

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