Final answer:
Memory overcommitment is a hypervisor feature similar to data de-duplication that optimizes memory usage by allowing the allocation of more memory to virtual machines than is physically available, using techniques such as Transparent Page Sharing.
Step-by-step explanation:
Similar to data de-duplication, memory overcommitment is a feature built into hypervisors that helps optimize memory usage. This technique allows for the allocation of more memory to virtual machines (VMs) than the physical host actually has. It works because all VMs do not use their allocated memory at the same time, and similar memory pages can be shared among different VMs using a process called Transparent Page Sharing (TPS). By doing this, hypervisors can reduce the overall memory footprint and increase the number of VMs that can run on a single host.
Similar to data de-duplication, memory ballooning is a feature built into hypervisors that help optimize memory usage.
Memory ballooning allows the hypervisor to reclaim unused memory from virtual machines and reallocate it to other virtual machines that need more memory. This helps to improve overall memory utilization and efficiency within the virtualized environment.
For example, if one virtual machine is using only a fraction of its allocated memory, the hypervisor can balloon that unused memory and make it available for other virtual machines to use.