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In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is an emulation of a particular computer system. Virtual machines operate based on the computer architecture and functions of a real or hypothetical computer, and their implementations may involve specialized hardware, software, or a combination of both. Classification of virtual machines can be based on the degree to which they implement functionality of targeted real machines. That way, ''system virtual machines'' (also known as full virtualization VMs) provide a complete substitute for the targeted real machine and a level of functionality required for the execution of a complete operating system. On the other hand, ''process virtual machines'' are designed to execute a single computer program by providing an abstracted and platform-independent program execution environment. Different virtualization techniques are used, based on the desired usage. ''Native execution'' is based on direct virtualization of the underlying raw hardware, thus it provides multiple "instances" of the same architecture a real machine is based on, capable of running complete operating systems. Some virtual machines can also emulate different architectures and allow execution of software applications and operating systems written for another CPU or architecture. Operating-system-level virtualization allows the resources of a computer to be partitioned via kernel's support for multiple isolated user space instances, which are usually called containers and may look and feel like real machines to the end users. Some computer architectures are capable of hardware-assisted virtualization, which enables efficient full virtualization by using virtualization-specific hardware capabilities, primarily from the host CPUs. ==Definitions== A virtual machine (VM) is a software implementation of a machine (for example, a computer) that executes programs like a physical machine. Virtual machines are separated into two major classes, based on their use and degree of correspondence to any real machine: * A ''system virtual machine'' provides a complete system platform which supports the execution of a complete operating system (OS).〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Virtual Machines: Virtualization vs. Emulation )〕 These usually emulate an existing architecture, and are built with the purpose of either providing a platform to run programs where the real hardware is not available for use (for example, executing on otherwise obsolete platforms), or of having multiple instances of virtual machines leading to more efficient use of computing resources, both in terms of energy consumption and cost effectiveness (known as hardware virtualization, the key to a cloud computing environment), or both. * A ''process virtual machine'' (also, language virtual machine) is designed to run a single program, which means that it supports a single process. Such virtual machines are usually closely suited to one or more programming languages and built with the purpose of providing program portability and flexibility (amongst other things). An essential characteristic of a virtual machine is that the software running inside is limited to the resources and abstractions provided by the virtual machine—it cannot break out of its virtual environment. A VM was originally defined by Popek and Goldberg as "an efficient, isolated duplicate of a real machine". Current use includes virtual machines which have no direct correspondence to any real hardware. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「virtual machine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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