What is a virtual machine?

At its base level, a virtual machine (VM) is software that runs programs or applications without being tied to a physical machine. In a VM instance, one or more guest machines can run on a physical host computer.

Each VM has its own operating system, and functions separately from other VMs, even if they are located on the same physical host. VMs generally run on computer servers, but they can also be run on desktop systems, or even embedded platforms. Multiple VMs can share resources from the physical host, including CPU cycles, network bandwidth and memory.