Parallels Virtuozzo Containers 4.0 is a server virtualisation suite that enables applications to be installed into multiple ‘containers’ hosted by a single Windows or Linux server operating system.
Each container functions as if it were a separate instance of the host operating system, with the result that software in the containers can modify operating system parameters without affecting the host or other containers.
In contrast to hypervisor-based virtualisation systems, which require administrators to maintain and license a separate operating system for every virtual machine, the containers approach means you need maintain and license only one host operating system for each physical server. Containers also make more efficient use of hardware resources, making it possible to run about three times more applications on a system with multiple containers than would be the case using a hypervisor and multiple virtual machines.
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