OpenVZ is a virtualization solution that allows you to simultaneously run multiple OpenVZ virtual machines and containers on a single physical server. With OpenVZ, you can efficiently share your server’s hardware resources among virtual machines and containers.
OpenVZ is installed directly on the server hardware and does not need any operating system to function. Once it is installed, OpenVZ allows you to create virtual machines and containers and manage them using the OpenVZ command-line interface (CLI). The command-line interface comprises a set of OpenVZ command-line utilities that you can use to manage virtual machines and containers, both locally and remotely.
Graphically, a server with the OpenVZ software installed can be represented as follows:
