OS and Application Virtualization

OS virtualization relies on an operating system to provide multiple, isolated, user-level environments, or containers, within a single host OS.  A container provides an application with the illusion that it is running on the OS all by itself.  Examples of OS virtualization are Solaris Containers and OpenVZ.

Application virtualization encapsulates an application within a virtualization layer that intercepts certain OS calls and redirects them.  This allows an application to be streamed to a remote location or to co-exist with other incompatible applications on a single OS instance.  Examples of application virtualization are Microsoft Application Virtualization and VMware ThinApp.

This topic covers discussions of these two alternative virtualization technologies.