Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Architecture

A Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization environment consists of:
  • Virtual machine hosts using the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM).
  • Agents and tools running on hosts including VDSM, QEMU, and libvirt. These tools provide local management for virtual machines, networks and storage.
  • The Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager; a centralized management platform for the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization environment. It provides a graphical interface where you can view, provision and manage resources.
  • Storage domains to hold virtual resources like virtual machines, templates, ISOs.
  • A database to track the state of and changes to the environment.
  • Access to an external Directory Server to provide users and authentication.
  • Networking to link the environment together. This includes physical network links, and logical networks.
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Platform Overview

Figure 1.1. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Platform Overview