Virtual,virtualization and virtual machine

 Virtual

Virtual means not real. The term virtual is popular among computer scientists and is used in a wide variety of situations. In general, it distinguishes something that is merely conceptual from something that has physical reality.

 Virtual (philosophy), A term used by Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze and Manuel DeLanda to denote potentiality as being equally real to actuality, but in a different manner.

For example: virtual memory refers to an imaginary set of locations, or addresses, where you can store data. It is imaginary in the sense that the memory area is not the same as the real physical memory composed of transistors.

·        Another analogy is the difference between the brain and the mind. The mind is a virtual brain. It exists conceptually, but the actual physical matter is the brain.

Virtualization

A computing technique to create representations of computer resources.

Virtual Machine

A virtual machine (VM) is a software program or operating system that not only exhibits the behavior of a separate computer, but is also capable of performing tasks such as running applications and programs like a separate computer. A virtual machine, usually known as a guest is created within another computing environment referred as a "host." Multiple virtual machines can exist within a single host at one time.

A virtual machine (VM) is a software implementation of a machine (e.g., a computer) that executes programs like a physical machine.