What is the difference between full virtualization and paravirtualization?
Full virtualization is called "full" because the entire system’s resources are abstracted by the virtualization software layer. Paravirtualization is called "para" because only a portion of the system’s resources, or partial amount, is abstracted. Application programming interfaces (APIs) enable communication or provide assistance in certain situations. Paravirtualization requires that the guest operating system running on the host server be modified so that it recognizes the virtualization software layer, while fully virtualized workloads do not require any change or modification to their guest operating systems. However, fully virtualized workloads leveraging Xen or KVM do require that the host physical systems incorporate Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel-VT) or AMD Virtualization technology (AMD-V).
Full virtualization is called “full” because the entire system’s resources are abstracted by the virtualization software layer. Paravirtualization is called “para” because only a portion of the system’s resources, or partial amount, is abstracted. Application programming interfaces (APIs) enable communication or provide assistance in certain situations. Paravirtualization requires that the guest operating system running on the host server be modified so that it recognizes the virtualization software layer, while fully virtualized workloads do not require any change or modification to their guest operating systems. However, fully virtualized workloads leveraging Xen do require that the host physical systems contain Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT) or AMD Virtualization technology (AMD-V).
