What is Virtual Appliance?

Definition of Virtual Appliance

Virtual Appliance is a software based image of a physical machine, system or application which operates on a virtualization environment or virtual platform. It is a type of virtual machine that is preconfigured with a base operating system and an application. Just like any virtual machine, it is deployed and hosted within a virtualization environment and can be accessed over the internet.

Brief Description of Virtual Appliance

Typically, the virtual appliance is created and configured with a basic operating system and an application. The key objective behind virtual appliance is to deliver a particular application over the internet, without the need for any installation or configuration at user’s end.

It enables in quick and hassle free deployment of preconfigured virtual machines. It generally doesn’t have requirement for software and hardware compatibility and can be used in the standard web browser. Virtual appliances are commonly used in cloud disaster recovery processes, providing quick delivery of configured virtual machines and/or virtual desktops/ servers.