Your resources are limited. Virtualization allows you to get more out of them. With it, you can run more software and run more processes with the same amount of hardware.
Virtualization makes backing up your entire operating system or server as easy as backing up a group of files. That’s because your virtual OS is just a collection of files.
Suppose a hacker disabled your mail server. If you were running it on a virtual machine, you can simply restore the old version.
Run a different OS.
Let’s say you use Windows every day, but really want to try Linux. Or you have an application that only works with Mac OS. Of course, you can repartition your computer’s hard drive . But the first step to do that should be to create a snapshot of your computer. AKA what virtualization does. Then you have to worry about whether your computer will allow you to shrink it enough.
Having a desktop version of Linux for casual use saves you from having to install PuTTY on Windows . Linux has built-in tools to communicate via a secure shell (SSH). And if your mail or web services are based on Linux, virtualization makes it easy to communicate with the server.
Run ancient applications.
Other interesting things virtualization provides include running applications on older operating systems. Let’s say you have a program that only runs on Windows 8, but you’ve upgraded to Windows 10. No problem, just use virtualization to run Windows 8 on the same computer.
Look at dirty files.
The virtualization software also allows you to create a snapshot of your computer. This means that it saves all of your settings and hard drive contents in another part of your computer. That way, you can make changes to a small part of your computer without making changes to the rest of it. And, more importantly, it means that you can easily undo those changes by going back to an earlier state.
Let’s say you have a file that you really need to read, watch, or listen to, but it’s infected with a virus. If you take a snapshot of your computer before you open the file, you can view/view/listen to the file and then return to the saved version.
Protect your computer from browser stink
Hackers have successfully used all four of the most popular browsers – Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.
Protect your computer from browser hacks by running any browser in the sandbox .
From Tor to Firefox , even if your browser or plugin gets hacked, your computer can remain safe with virtualization. Just like a corrupted file, snapshot restores everything to normal, even if a hack occurs.