Virtualization: One Concept and Many Forms

Virtualization is a powerful and very useful concept. It abstracts the underlying resouces from their end users aor intermediate applications. Cloud computing among other technological phenomenon is a benefiary of this concept.

A General definition of virtualization is:

The process of integrating one or more underlying ( back-end) resouces- services and functions with additional interfacing functionality for the pruposes of providing useful abstractions.  

Virtaulization can be applied to any resource. Here is one: Storage Virtualization.  Storage virtaulization is described as follows

• The art of abstarcting, hiding, or isolating the internal functions of a stoarge system or its sub- systems or its services from applications, servers, or general network resources for the purpose of enabling applications and network independent management of storage or data
• The applications of virtualiation to storage services or devices for the purpose of aggregating , hiding complexity, or adding new capabilities to lower-level storage resources

 Sources: Stroage Networking Industry Association ( SNIA)