URGENT! Virtualization Q's

[bmigga]

So I'm studying to become a Network Administrator, and I've got my final on Server Administration tomorrow. I've been studying, and I've come up on a problem that I don't quite understand - virtualization. I KIND OF get the idea but not really. It keeps bring up "Hyper-V" as well. Please someone break it down into smaller terms.

Whats the difference between virtualization and Remote Desktop? Aren't they pretty much the same thing? I need help quick!

 

[Cromewell]

Remote Desktop is an application that allows you to connect and log into a remote system. You may use Remote Desktop to connect to a virtual system, but it could also connect to a physical system.

Virtualization is a little more complicated to explain. The gist of it is you create one or more pretend (aka virtual) systems on a host system.

 

[bmigga]

So basically - in order to use Remote Desktop, you have actually have a PHYSICAL client/server computer to connect to? And with Virtualization, no such PHYSICAL computer has to be present?

 

[Cromewell]

So basically - in order to use Remote Desktop, you have actually have a PHYSICAL client/server computer to connect to? And with Virtualization, no such PHYSICAL computer has to be present?

You can use Remote Desktop to connect to a physical or virtual system. Remote Desktop is just a way to communicate with another system.

You can think of Virtualization like running an emulator (they are similar but different). Say you have a nintendo emulator. If you load up a game and play it, you don't have magically get a real nintendo system to play the game.

 

[strollin]

Remote Desktop is a way to remotely control another system, physical or virtual, using your local keyboard, mouse and display.

Virtualization is where you can create virtual machines that act like a physical machine, except that they exist only in software. If you have enough processing power and enough RAM, you can run multiple Virtual Machines on a single physical machines.