KVM

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is an open-source Type 1 hypervisor built into the Linux kernel, turning Linux into a full-featured virtualization platform. KVM provides hardware-assisted virtualization for x86 processors with Intel VT or AMD-V extensions, delivering near-native performance for virtual machines. KVM is the foundation for many cloud and virtualization platforms, including OpenStack, Proxmox VE, and Google Cloud's compute infrastructure. It supports a wide range of guest operating systems including Linux, Windows, BSD, and Solaris, and provides features such as live migration, SR-IOV, and PCI passthrough. Combined with QEMU for hardware emulation and management tools like libvirt, KVM provides a complete, enterprise-ready virtualization solution that rivals commercial hypervisors in features and performance.