Image: Wikimedia Commons

virtual machine

Software that emulates an entire computer, often used to provide a different operating system or hardware architecture than the host system

EntityQ192726

Also known as वीएम

Subclass of: application software
, system software
, computing platform

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is the virtualization or emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide the functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve specialized hardware, software, or a combination of the two. Virtual machines differ and are organized by their function, shown here:System virtual machines provide a substitute for a real machine. They provide the functionality needed to execute entire operating systems. A hypervisor uses native execution to share and manage hardware, allowing for multiple environments that are isolated from one another yet exist on the same physical machine. Modern hypervisors use hardware-assisted virtualization, with virtualization-specific hardware features on the host CPUs providing assistance to hypervisors. Process virtual machines are designed to execute computer programs in a platform-independent environment.

Overview

All data

33 statements · 21% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Facet of: operating system
Different from: container
virtual memory applies to name of object: VM · applies to name of subject: VM
Simulates: computer

On other databases

24 identifiers linking virtual machine across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

21%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 6, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

Suggest a fact or correction

Links

Use this data

curl https://aidb.si/api/v1/entities/Q192726

API docs, limits & keys

Cite this page

AIDB. (2026). virtual machine (Q192726). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/virtual-machine-Q192726