Virtualization Basics

Virtualization lets you run a complete operating system inside software on your existing computer. The simulated machine is called a virtual machine (VM).

For ethical hacking this is essential: you get a disposable, isolated environment where you can run attacks and break things without harming your real system.

• Snapshots let you undo any damage instantly.
• Multiple VMs can share one physical host.

The software that creates and runs VMs is a hypervisor.

• Type 1 (bare-metal): runs directly on hardware (ESXi, Hyper-V, Proxmox).
• Type 2 (hosted): runs as an app on top of your OS (VirtualBox, VMware Workstation).

For a home lab you almost always use a Type 2 hypervisor.