Virtualization technology isn't complete without a hypervisor. And no data center administrator should implement a virtual environment without knowledge of hypervisor selection, deployment and management. This final chapter of the Introduction to Virtualization e-book explains some hypervisor basics—highlighting the differences between bare-metal and hosted hypervisors—and lists some features that you should look for when selecting one for your virtual environment.

Hypervisor deployment requires some planning for the future. Chapter 7 also gives some tips on successful hypervisor deployment and workload balancing as well as advice on using the proper management tools. If you're wondering which vendors—other than the "big three"—offer hypervisors, this chapter identifies some emerging hypervisor vendors.