Which of the following is not a component of a virtual machine?

The correct answer is that physical RAM is not a component of a virtual machine. In a virtualized environment, a virtual machine (VM) is created to simulate a physical computer, which means that it operates independently of the physical hardware resources.

A virtual machine relies on virtual resources like a virtual CPU, which is a simulated processor allocated to it from the host's physical CPUs. Similarly, a virtual hard disk represents storage space allocated to the VM, allowing it to store files and operating systems just like a physical hard disk. Additionally, a virtual network interface card (vNIC) is crucial for connecting the VM to networks, facilitating communication since it mimics the behavior of a physical network card.

In contrast, physical RAM is a part of the host system's hardware resources and is not directly a component of the virtual machine itself. The VM will use a portion of the host's physical RAM, but it does not contain or manage physical RAM on its own. This distinction is essential in understanding how virtualization abstracts physical resources to provide computing capabilities to VMs.