Most of you who are reading this book must be aware of what a virtual machine is, but for the sake of simplicity, let's have a quick look at what it really is.

A virtual machine is basically an emulation of a real or physical computer, which runs on an operating system, and can host your favorite applications as well. Each virtual machine consists of a set of files that governs the way the virtual machine is configured and run. The most important of these files is a virtual drive, which acts as a physical drive, storing all your data, applications, and operating system; and a configuration file that basically tells the virtual machine how much resources are dedicated to it, and which networks or storage adapters to use and so on. The beauty of these files is that you can port them from one virtualization platform to another, and manage them more effectively and securely, compared to a physical server.

Every virtual machine contains a guest operating system as well...