# What Is a Hypervisor?  ## Metadata - Author: [[redhat.com]] - Full Title: What Is a Hypervisor? - Category: #articles - Summary: A hypervisor is software that creates and runs virtual machines and manages CPU, memory, and storage. It isolates each VM so multiple operating systems can run on one physical host. There are two main types: type 1 (bare metal) runs on hardware and type 2 runs on a regular OS. - URL: https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/virtualization/what-is-a-hypervisor ## Highlights - A hypervisor is software that creates and runs [virtual machines (VMs)](https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/virtualization/what-is-a-virtual-machine). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kbw13g91j7b0k1r391697tkw)) - The hypervisor gives each virtual machine the resources that have been allocated and manages the scheduling of VM resources against the physical resources. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kbw14hp8smbkk86ndjdd00at)) - Without virtualization, you can only run 1 operating system on the hardware. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kbw1591ff3t4hj1h6emnzvdm))