Description: Hot migration is a technique used in virtualization that allows moving a virtual machine from one host to another without interrupting its operation. This means that users can continue accessing the application or service running on the virtual machine throughout the migration process. This capability is crucial in environments where continuous availability is essential, such as data centers and cloud services. Hot migration relies on replicating the memory and state of the virtual machine, allowing the system to transfer from one server to another without data loss or downtime. Key features include reduced operational risks, resource optimization, and improved workload management. Additionally, this technique facilitates hardware maintenance by allowing virtual machines to be moved from a server that needs to be updated or repaired to another that is available, all without affecting end users. In summary, hot migration is a powerful tool in managing virtualized infrastructures, enabling greater flexibility and efficiency in managing technological resources.
History: Hot migration began to develop in the early 2000s with the rise of virtualization. VMware was one of the pioneers in implementing this technology with its VMware vMotion product, released in 2003. Since then, the technique has evolved and been integrated into various virtualization platforms, including open-source solutions like KVM and Xen. As the demand for high availability and scalability in data centers grew, hot migration became an essential feature for efficient resource management.
Uses: Hot migration is primarily used in virtualization environments to maintain the availability of critical services. It allows for maintenance tasks on physical servers without interrupting service, optimizes workload by distributing virtual machines across different hosts, and facilitates disaster recovery by moving virtual machines to different geographical locations. It is also used in workload migration to the cloud, where companies can move their applications to public or private cloud environments without downtime.
Examples: An example of hot migration is the use of VMware vMotion, which allows administrators to move virtual machines between physical servers without interrupting access to applications. Another case is the use of Microsoft Hyper-V, which also offers hot migration capabilities, allowing companies to perform maintenance on their servers without affecting users. Additionally, in Kubernetes environments, hot container migration can be performed to balance the load between nodes without downtime.
