May 7, 2025 – BK's Infosec Classes

What Are Virtual Machines, and How Do They Work?

A virtual machine (VM) is a software-based emulation of a computer. A program called a hypervisor runs on your computer. It allows you to create virtual machines–virtual computers—and configure them with an amount of RAM, hard drive space, CPU cores, and other details that would normally be provisioned in hardware. Once you’ve configured your VM, you can turn it on and install an operating system.