How does the hypervisor facilitate the operation of virtual machines?

The hypervisor plays a crucial role in the virtualization process by allowing virtual machines (VMs) to operate independently of the underlying physical hardware. This is central to the concept of virtualization, where the hypervisor abstracts the hardware resources and presents them to the VMs as virtualized resources.

This independence allows for several advantages: VMs can be easily moved between different physical hosts, ensuring better resource utilization and flexibility in managing workloads. Additionally, this abstraction provides greater scalability, as multiple VMs can run on a single host, each with its configurations without being affected by the physical hardware.

The operational independence fostered by the hypervisor means that VMs can be configured, modified, and executed as if they had their own dedicated hardware resources, enabling more efficient use of physical resources and simplified management of the overall environment. This capability underpins the entire virtualization strategy, making it easier to manage and build scalable IT infrastructures.

The other options do not capture the essence of how a hypervisor functions. Tightly coupling VMs to physical hardware would negate the benefits of virtualization, and limiting storage capabilities or preventing mobility between hosts would restrict functionality and flexibility, which are two of the primary advantages of using a hypervisor.