VM
A Virtual Machine (VM) in the context of Electronics and Computers, refers to a software implementation of a machine (computer) that executes programs like a physical machine. It is an abstraction of computer systems that provides the capabilities of a separate computer system. A VM runs its own operating system (OS) and applications as if they were installed on a separate physical computer, despite being merely one or more processes on a host computer. VMs can be used for various purposes such as testing new software, running multiple OS simultaneously, providing server consolidation and achieving high availability. They offer several advantages including isolation of the application environment from the underlying hardware, ease of deployment and management, and cost-effectiveness compared to physical servers.