Virtual Machine – it is not what you think!
A VM is not just a physical server that has been virtualized. Yes, there is a Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) process; however, once it is virtualized, it takes on a new shape. This shape has many new and changed properties, and some old properties are no longer applicable or available. My apologies if the following is not the best analogy:
Tip
We P2V the soul, not the body.
On the surface, a VM looks like a physical server. So, let's actually look at VM properties. The following screenshot shows a VM's settings in vSphere 5.5. It looks familiar as it has a CPU, memory, hard disk, network adapter, and so on. However, look at it closely. Do you see any properties that you don't see in a physical server?
VM properties in vSphere 5.5
Let's highlight some of the virtual server properties that do not exist in a physical server. I'll focus on the properties that have an impact on management, as management is the topic of this book...
