The hypervisor model has a base layer (usually a thin Linux kernel shown here as a hypervisor or standard OS) that is loaded directly on the bare server. To allocate hardware and resources to the virtual machines, all of the hardware on the server must be virtualized. The next layer up shows each chip, board, etc. must be virtualized so that it can be assigned to virtual machines. Once in the virtual machine itself, there is a complete copy of an operating system and finally the application or workload.

At the base resides a standard host operating system. Next is the virtualization layer with a proprietary file system and a kernel service abstraction layer that ensure isolation and security of resources between different virtual environments. The virtualization layer makes each virtual environment appear as a stand alone server. Finally, the virtual environment itself houses the application or workload.