Which virtualization architecture runs directly on hardware without a separate host OS?

Which virtualization architecture runs directly on hardware without a separate host OS?

• A. Bare-metal virtualization
• B. Hosted virtualization
• C. Container-based virtualization
• D. Hardware-Assisted Virtualization

Answer: (A)

Bare-metal virtualization sits directly on the hardware with no separate host operating system. In this setup, a hypervisor is installed straight on the physical server and manages multiple virtual machines without an intervening OS layer. This eliminates the overhead of an additional host OS, often yielding better performance and stronger isolation between VMs. Hosted virtualization, by contrast, runs the hypervisor as software atop a general-purpose operating system, so there is a full OS between the hardware and the virtual machines, adding overhead. Container-based virtualization isn’t about full virtual machines with separate guest OSes; containers share the host’s kernel and run isolated applications, so they don’t provide separate guest operating systems in the same way. Hardware-assisted virtualization refers to CPU features that aid virtualization and can be used by either bare-metal or hosted hypervisors; it’s a capability, not a distinct architecture by itself. So the architecture that runs directly on hardware without a separate host OS is bare-metal virtualization.

Bare-metal virtualization sits directly on the hardware with no separate host operating system. In this setup, a hypervisor is installed straight on the physical server and manages multiple virtual machines without an intervening OS layer. This eliminates the overhead of an additional host OS, often yielding better performance and stronger isolation between VMs.

Hosted virtualization, by contrast, runs the hypervisor as software atop a general-purpose operating system, so there is a full OS between the hardware and the virtual machines, adding overhead. Container-based virtualization isn’t about full virtual machines with separate guest OSes; containers share the host’s kernel and run isolated applications, so they don’t provide separate guest operating systems in the same way. Hardware-assisted virtualization refers to CPU features that aid virtualization and can be used by either bare-metal or hosted hypervisors; it’s a capability, not a distinct architecture by itself. So the architecture that runs directly on hardware without a separate host OS is bare-metal virtualization.