> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://theiotlearninginitiative.gitbook.io/edgecomputingsolutions/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://theiotlearninginitiative.gitbook.io/edgecomputingsolutions/introduction/edge-computing-solutions-architect/virtualization/real-time-kvm.md).

# Real Time KVM

> **Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)** is a virtualization infrastructure for the Linux kernel that turns it into a hypervisor. It was merged into the Linux kernel mainline in kernel version 2.6.20, which was released on February 5, 2007. KVM requires a processor with hardware virtualization extensions. KVM has also been ported to FreeBSD\[3] and illumos\[4] in the form of loadable kernel modules. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel-based_Virtual_Machine)
>
> KVM (for Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). It consists of a loadable kernel module, kvm.ko, that provides the core virtualization infrastructure and a processor specific module, kvm-intel.ko or kvm-amd.ko. Using KVM, one can run multiple virtual machines running unmodified Linux or Windows images. Each virtual machine has private virtualized hardware: a network card, disk, graphics adapter, etc. [Homepage](https://www.linux-kvm.org/)