--- title: "Server and workstation virtualization — ZEBR.ai" description: "Virtualization for everyone Virtualization is the use of the hardware resources of a host machine for a virtual guest machine through emulation.…" url: "https://zebr.ai/en/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization" markdown_url: "https://zebr.ai/en/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" language: "en" alternates: cs: "https://zebr.ai/cs/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" sl: "https://zebr.ai/sl/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" sk: "https://zebr.ai/sk/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" hr: "https://zebr.ai/hr/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" sr-Latn: "https://zebr.ai/sr-latn/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" bs: "https://zebr.ai/bs/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" sq: "https://zebr.ai/sq/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" fr: "https://zebr.ai/fr/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" es: "https://zebr.ai/es/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" de: "https://zebr.ai/de/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" pt-BR: "https://zebr.ai/pt-br/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" pl: "https://zebr.ai/pl/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" it: "https://zebr.ai/it/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" nl: "https://zebr.ai/nl/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" hu: "https://zebr.ai/hu/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" ro: "https://zebr.ai/ro/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" tr: "https://zebr.ai/tr/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" id: "https://zebr.ai/id/knowledge-base/server-and-workstation-virtualization.md" --- [Home](https://zebr.ai/en/) [Knowledge base](https://zebr.ai/en/knowledge-base) Server and workstation virtualization # Server and workstation virtualization **Virtualization for everyone**\ Virtualization is the use of the hardware resources of a host machine for a virtual guest machine through emulation. Virtualization creates a simulated (virtual) computing environment instead of a physical environment. **What is virtualization good for?**\ Virtualization is a suitable tool, for example, for testing applications because you do not have to overload your own system. You simply test the application in a virtual computer. The entire virtual computer is usually stored in a single directory, so it can be easily backed up by copying the directory. Virtualization enables server consolidation and thus reduces the costs required for the purchase, operation, and maintenance of hardware. **Real-world example:** Imagine a company that operates 4 servers and it is time to acquire new ones. The company can buy 4 new servers or one powerful machine and run these 4 servers virtually on one physical server. **Virtualization can be used to bridge an outage caused by a sudden hardware failure.** **Real-world example:** Imagine a server that is vital to the operation of a company and this machine crashes. In such a case (provided that a virtual copy or at least a functional backup of this machine exists), the server can be brought into operation in a virtual environment for the necessary period. As soon as a new machine is available, the virtual server can be transferred to the new physical hardware, ensuring almost continuous server operation. Data that changes on the server while it is operating in the virtual environment will, of course, also be transferred to the new hardware. * Note – the above does not apply generally; this option is offered by Acronis products. **What do I need to set up a virtual computer?**\ First of all, a sufficiently powerful machine is needed. Hardware requirements are determined by the hardware requirements of the physical and virtual machine. Keep in mind that a real operating system will run on the physical computer and another operating system will run on the virtual computer. However, if you decide to run Windows 7 in a virtual computer on your Windows 10, you do not need to worry. But if you run a Windows 10 virtual computer in Windows 10, the hardware requirements are considerably higher. You will also need a virtualization application. In the virtualization application, you create and configure a virtual machine. Remember that a substantial portion of disk space must be allocated for the virtual machine. For example, allow at least 20 GB of space for Windows 7. You can use the Microsoft Virtual PC virtualization application free of charge. Paid products include Microsoft Virtual Server, VMware, Parallels, and others. You can download Microsoft Virtual PC at the following address:\ Be careful not to violate the licensing terms of the operating systems used.\ You can find the license agreement for Microsoft Windows at the following address:\ **Setting up a virtual machine – virtual computer installation**\ After installing the virtualization application, create a new virtual machine. In most applications, this can be done using a clear wizard. Set the virtual machine to boot from the CD/DVD drive, insert the installation disc of the desired operating system, and start the virtual machine. Install the virtual machine. The procedure is the same as installing a system on a real computer. **Setting up a virtual machine** – P2V migration, direct conversion using Acronis\ Acronis Cyber backup products are primarily intended for creating disk images. In addition, the Acronis Cyber backup product family allows these backups to be converted directly into a virtual machine. The result of the conversion is a file that you use as the hard disk of the virtual machine. With Acronis, you can therefore create a backup of a physical machine within minutes and then convert it into a virtual machine. An exact copy of the physical machine then works in the virtual machine. **Setting up a virtual machine** – P2V migration using Acronis bootable media\ Again, you first need to create a backup of the physical machine using one of the Acronis Cyber Backup products. Insert Acronis bootable media into the drive, set the virtual machine to boot from the USB/DVD drive. Start the virtual machine and, in the Acronis program that launches, restore the virtual machine using the backup from the physical machine. To make this possible, the backup must be available to the virtual computer. This means it should be located, for example, on an external drive, network drive, shared network storage, or removable USB or DVD media. After the restoration, remove the Acronis bootable media from the drive and restart the virtual computer. An exact copy of the physical machine then works in the virtual machine. **Converting** **a virtual machine to a physical one** – V2P migration using Acronis\ To convert a virtual machine to physical hardware, you need one of the Acronis Cyber Backup products + the Universal Restore add-on. The Acronis Universal Restore add-on allows you to replace the basic computer drivers (the so-called HAL layer) when restoring a backup and also allows you to provide your own drivers. This ensures that the machine does not crash after restoration. If restoration were performed without this add-on, the physical machine would use virtual machine drivers that cannot work with real hardware, and the system would crash before it even started. Using one of the Acronis Cyber Backup products, create a backup of the virtual machine. You can either install the program directly in the virtual computer and create a backup, or boot the virtual computer from Acronis bootable media and create a backup of the virtual machine from that environment. Store the backup so that it is also accessible to the physical machine to which you want to transfer the virtual machine system. This means that the backup should be stored, for example, on an external drive, network drive, shared network storage, or removable USB or DVD media. Boot the physical machine using Acronis bootable media with the Acronis Universal Restore add-on. Choose to restore the backup created in the virtual computer. Choose to use the Universal Restore add-on and, if necessary, add your own drivers. Perform the restoration. After restoration, remove the Acronis bootable media from the drive and restart the machine. An exact copy of the virtual machine will then work on the physical machine. **Transferring a system to a machine with different hardware** – P2P migration\ Acronis Cyber backup products are primarily intended for creating disk images. You can then use these disk images to clone computers. Simply create a backup of computer number 1 and restore it to computer 2. If both computers have identical hardware, any Acronis Cyber Backup product will be sufficient for this operation. However, if the source and target computers have different hardware, we would again encounter a driver problem, just as with V2P migration. The target computer would use the drivers of the source computer, and these would not work on the target computer. Therefore, it will again be necessary to use a product from the Acronis Cyber Backup family + the Acronis Universal Restore add-on, which ensures the required driver replacement on the target machine. The procedure would be to create a backup of the source computer and store it so that it is accessible to the target computer. Boot the target computer using Acronis bootable media with the Acronis Universal Restore add-on. Then choose to restore the backup created on the source computer. Choose to use the Universal Restore add-on and, if necessary, add your own drivers. Perform the restoration. After restoring the target machine, remove the Acronis bootable media from the drive and restart the machine. The result will be two computers that are hardware-wise different but software-wise identical. It does not matter if the source and target hard drives are different sizes; Acronis allows you to “expand or shrink” the backup according to the size of the target disk. Acronis even allows you to change the SID identifier, so if you want to operate both computers on the same network, no address conflict will occur. **A real-life example of using virtualization** – a new system on an old PC\ A computer used by an accountant has been running non-stop for 3 years without reinstallation. In addition to accounting, this computer is used for everyday work, so it is no surprise that after 3 years of operation it is considerably slowed down and cluttered with remnants of program installations and uninstallations. Hardware-wise, this machine is sufficient; there is no reason to buy new hardware. The IT department is therefore asked to reinstall the operating system, including setting up the accounting program and all necessary applications, while of course preserving all data on this computer. The IT department states that this is a 3-day task, which is unacceptable to the company management. The IT department therefore decides to create a virtual computer in which it installs the operating system, accounting program, all necessary applications, and transfers data from the old system. Using Acronis Cyber Backup Workstation, it creates a backup of this virtual computer. Then, using Acronis bootable media with the Universal Restore add-on, it restores this backup to the physical computer. The result is a fast, clean installation of Windows while preserving the accounting program, all applications, and data from the original system. The time during which the accounting computer was out of service is thus reduced to just 10–20 minutes needed to perform the restoration. **Example of using P2P Migration** – old server system on new hardware\ Here we have the opposite case. A company decides to purchase a new server. The company is critically dependent on this server. Acquiring the hardware is not a problem, but it would take days to install and, most importantly, configure the new server. With the help of Acronis Cyber Backup Server for Windows, a backup of the old server is created, and using Acronis bootable media with the Universal Restore add-on, this backup is restored to the new server within 20 minutes. The result is a new, more powerful server that does not need any configuration because it has inherited all the settings of the old server. Acronis Cyber Backup Server for Windows + the Universal Restore add-on ensured the server migration to new hardware and will also reliably back up this new server. --- - Source: - Site overview for AI agents: