BCG Blog Learn the Types of Virtualization to go From the PC to the Cloud

In the beginning of networks, operating systems and users (or user sessions) there was a 1:1 to relationship to physical hardware (computers). You had one user, on one operating system, on one PC, connected to one network by one wire. The server side was the same - one server operated on one operating system. As hardware developed further, it became powerful enough to do more than one thing, and virtualization was introduced to networking. Soon, we have virtual networks, virtual servers and virtual desktops. Even routers and firewalls were virtualized. Rapid development and adoption of virtualization technologies was the key enabling technology for cloud.