Which of the following correctly lists the three environmental issues addressed by virtualization?

• A. Reduce electrical energy consumption, decreased cooling requirements, decreased physical space requirements
• B. Increased energy consumption, higher cooling needs, larger physical space
• C. Reduced electrical energy but increased cooling
• D. No impact on environment

Answer: (A)

Virtualization concentrates workloads by running many virtual machines on fewer physical servers. This consolidation reduces electrical energy consumption because there are fewer servers drawing power, and those servers often operate more efficiently. Cooling needs also drop since there is less heat produced overall. Space requirements shrink because the same computing capacity fits into a much smaller physical footprint. The other scenarios describe outcomes that virtualization doesn’t typically cause—more energy and cooling or no environmental impact—so they don’t fit with what virtualization achieves.