Virtual Machines|Technical Support Fundamentals|Coursera| Google IT Support Professional Certificate
Please watch: "Boot Process | Technical Support Fundamentals | Coursera| Google IT Support Professional Certificate"
• Boot Process | Technical Support Fund... -~-
Before we start installing our operating system,
we need to be familiar with the concept of
Virtual Machines or VMs.
A virtual machine is just a copy of a real machine.
Why would you want that?
We've been working with physical machines so far,
but there are cases in IT support where we need
access to a machine that isn't physically in front of us.
Let's say I have a Windows machine and I
want to learn another operating system like Linux.
I don't want to buy another computer or have
two separate operating systems on my disk.
Instead, I can use an application like Virtual Box,
to install Linux and have it
completely isolated from my machine.
Virtual machines use physical resources like memory,
CPU and storage, but they offer
the added benefit of running
multiple operating systems at once.
They're also easier to maintain and provision.
Virtual machines have become a staple
in many IT departments since
they allow IT support specialists to
create new virtual computers on-demand.
They can also reclaim the resources
they use when they're no longer needed.
If you wanted to use software that's
only available on one specific OS,
it's easier to create a new virtual machine,
use the software, and then
delete the virtual machines once you're done.
Throughout this program, you'll actually be using
VMs to perform hands-on exercises.
You'll be working on our quick labs platform,
where you'll be presented tasks to
complete from within a lab setting.
We list out the specific tasks you'll need to complete.
Once you complete the tasks,
you'll get the credit for the lab.
Okay. Now that we know what a virtual machine is,
you can see how they can be extremely useful.
We'll revisit the ends in
the future and see there are other many uses.
We're covering a lot of ground fast.
Since we're going to start installing
operating system soon,
feel free to review these lessons to make sure you fully
understand the fundamentals before moving on.