What is a characteristic of a Type 2 hypervisor?

Question

Options

• AIt is completely independent of the operating system.
• BIt is installed on an operating system and supports other operating systems.
• CIt eliminates the need for an underlying operating system.
• DIts main task is to manage hardware resources between different operating systems.

• A
  2% (1)
• B
  92% (58)
• C
  2% (1)
• D
  5% (3)

Explanation

Type 2 Hypervisor Explained

A Type 2 (hosted) hypervisor runs on top of an existing host operating system, such as Windows or macOS, and allows additional guest operating systems to run within virtual machines - making Option B correct. Think of it like an application installed on your computer that happens to run other operating systems inside it (e.g., VMware Workstation, VirtualBox).

Why the distractors are wrong:

• Option A is incorrect because a Type 2 hypervisor depends on the host OS - it cannot function without it.
• Option C describes a Type 1 (bare-metal) hypervisor, which installs directly on hardware with no underlying OS required.
• Option D also describes a Type 1 hypervisor, whose primary role is direct hardware resource management between operating systems.

Memory Tip: Think of Type 2 as "2nd in line" - the host OS comes first, and the hypervisor sits second, on top of it. Type 1 = bare metal (nothing underneath); Type 2 = hosted (something underneath).

No community discussion yet for this question.