Where do bare metal hypervisors run?

Bare metal hypervisors run directly on the physical hardware of a host machine. They manage the hardware resources and allocate them to multiple virtual machines (VMs) without the need for a host operating system. This direct interaction with the hardware allows bare metal hypervisors to have greater performance and efficiency compared to those running on top of an operating system.

Because bare metal hypervisors operate independently of an additional OS layer, they can provide better resource management and utilization and lower latency. This architecture is beneficial for environments requiring high performance, such as data centers or cloud environments, where maximizing resource efficiency and minimizing overhead is critical.

Other options involve forms of virtualization that rely on an underlying operating system or software, which can introduce additional layers of complexity and potentially lessen performance. Thus, understanding the distinction between bare metal and hosted hypervisors is essential in cloud security and management contexts.