In computing, network virtualization is the process of combining hardware and software network resources and network functionality into a single, software-based administrative entity, a virtual network. Network virtualization involves platform virtualization, often combined with resource virtualization.
Network virtualization is categorized as either external, combining many networks, or parts of networks, into a virtual unit, or internal, providing network-like functionality to the software containers on a single system. Whether virtualization is internal or external depends on the implementation provided by vendors that support the technology.
In software testing, network virtualization is a pre-production process for recreating network conditions from the production environment within the test environment. A component of application performance engineering, network virtualization enables connections between applications, services, dependencies and end users to be accurately emulated in the test environment.
Read more about Network Virtualization: Components of A Virtual Network, External Network Virtualization, Internal Network Virtualization, Combined Internal and External Network Virtualization, Network Virtualization For Developers and QA Testers, Network Virtualization Initiatives, See Also, Further Reading, References
Famous quotes containing the word network:
“A culture may be conceived as a network of beliefs and purposes in which any string in the net pulls and is pulled by the others, thus perpetually changing the configuration of the whole. If the cultural element called morals takes on a new shape, we must ask what other strings have pulled it out of line. It cannot be one solitary string, nor even the strings nearby, for the network is three-dimensional at least.”
—Jacques Barzun (b. 1907)