What is the main purpose of a hypervisor in a virtualized environment?

The primary purpose of a hypervisor in a virtualized environment is to create and manage virtual machines. A hypervisor acts as an intermediary between the hardware of a physical server and the virtual machines that run on it. It allocates resources such as CPU, memory, and storage to the various virtual machines and enables them to operate independently from one another, even though they share the same physical hardware. This allows for multiple operating systems to run simultaneously on a single physical machine, improving resource utilization and flexibility in managing workloads.

While other options may represent important functions or components in IT infrastructure, they do not encapsulate the core role of a hypervisor. For instance, managing server storage, providing backup solutions, or installing operating systems are essential tasks in a data center but can be handled by other software and systems beyond the hypervisor itself. In contrast, the hypervisor’s central function is specifically to facilitate the virtualization of computing resources through the creation and management of virtual machines.