What essential service does virtualization provide to cloud computing environments?

Virtualization plays a crucial role in cloud computing by enabling resource abstraction. This means that it allows physical hardware resources—such as servers, storage, and networks—to be abstracted into virtualized resources that can be easily managed, provisioned, and scaled.

Through virtualization, multiple virtual machines can be created and run on a single physical server, allowing for efficient utilization of resources and making it easier to allocate and allocate different resources to different applications or services as needed. This abstraction layer enables cloud providers to offer flexible and on-demand services to customers.

Additionally, virtualization facilitates tasks such as automated scaling, load balancing, and resource pooling, which are fundamental to cloud computing environments. This capability enhances the overall efficiency and flexibility of cloud services, allowing organizations to optimize their IT operations and reduce costs.