What is a Virtual Machine?¶
A Virtual Machine is pretty much what it says on the tin. It is a fully 'virtual' computer.
VMs emulate the real hardware. CPU, RAM, Networking, Hard Drives, etc.
Why Do People Use a VM?¶
VMs have lots of valid usecases. Companies usually use it as to emulate their old servers on new hardware.
Other people will use it to try out other operating systems, or verify software.
Cybersecurity experts use Virtual Machines as a sandbox. VMs are very hard to break out of, and mimic a real environment. So malware can be dissected and researched in the safety of Virtual Machines.