Figure 2.3 shows the simple creation of a
new instance of a virtual machine on a different physical server.
Likewise, storage virtualization has existed for quite some time, as has the concept of abstracting
storage blocks and allowing them to be separated from the actual physical storage hardware. As with
servers, this achieves efficiency in terms of speed (e.g., moving frequently used data to a faster device) as
well as in terms of utilization (e.g., allowing multiple servers to share the same physical storage device).
These technological advancements allow servers and storage to be manipulated quickly and efficiently. Although these advances in computer and storage virtualization have been taking place, the
same has not been true in the networking domain