How to: Virtual Machines (VM)
A Virtual Machine (VM) is a virtual environment that functions as a virtual computer system with its own CPU, memory, network interface, and storage, created on a physical hardware system. A software called a hypervisor separates the machine's resources from the hardware and provisions them appropriately so they can be used by the VM.

VMs are isolated from the rest of the system, and multiple VMs can exist on a single piece of hardware, like a server. They can be moved between host servers depending on the demand or to use resources more efficiently.