User`s guide

Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal Basics 18
Parallels Virtual Machines
From the point of view of applications and virtual machine users, each virtual machine is an
independent system with an independent set of virtual hardware. This independence is provided
by the Parallels Server Bare Metal hardware virtualization layer. The main features of the
virtualization layer are the following:
 A virtual machine looks like a normal computer. It has its own virtual hardware, and
software applications can run in virtual machines without any modifications or adjustment.
 A user can easily change the virtual machine configuration (e.g. add a new virtual disk or
increase memory).
 Virtual machines are fully isolated from each other (file system, processes, sysctl
variables) and Parallels Server Bare Metal.
 Install any of the supported operating systems in the virtual machine. The guest operating
system and its applications are isolated inside a virtual machine and share physical hardware
resources with other virtual machines.
Intel and AMD Virtualization Technology Support
Parallels Server Bare Metal provides support for Intel and AMD virtualization technologies
comprising a set of processor enhancements and improving the work of virtualization solutions.
Utilizing these technologies, Parallels Server Bare Metal can offload some workload to the
system hardware, which results in the "near native" performance of guest operating systems.