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---
title: On paravirtualized hardware
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description:
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published: true
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date: 2022-01-12T16:01:26.136Z
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tags:
editor: markdown
dateCreated: 2022-01-12T14:22:51.514Z
---
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# Paravirtual hardware
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*Paravirtual hardware are emulated hardware or devices that can be found in a virtual environment. Contrary to other emulated hardware, they don't intend to mimic a particular piece of real hardware. More details on the [lexicon ](/virt/lexicon )*
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In this section, the focus is oriented towards Virtual I/O Devices (VIRTIO), also known as the `virtio` family of devices:
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## Graphical frame buffer
* [`virtio-gpu` ](/virt/virtio/gpu ): paravirtual GPU.
* Provides a subset of the host GPU capabilities to a guest virtual machine
## Video decoding/encoding
* [`virtio-video` ](/virt/virtio/video ): paravirtual video device
* Provides encoding and decoding capabilities to a guest virtual machine
## Sound
* [`virtio-snd` ](/virt/virtio/snd )
## Storage
* [`virtio-blk` ](/virt/virtio/blk )
* [`virtio-scsi` ](/virt/virtio/scsi )
## Network
* [`virtio-net` ](/virt/virtio/net )
## Input devices
* [`virtio-kbd` ](/virt/virtio/blk )
* [`virtio-` ](/virt/virtio/scsi )
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## Virtual I/O Devices specifications
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> [OASIS Open](https://www.oasis-open.org/org/) is a non-profit hosting standards related to the IT sector. They host VIRTIO specifications and its technical comittee.
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* Below is a table showing support of `virtio` devices depending on the specification version
| **Paravirtual device** | Spec 1.0 | Spec 1.1 | Spec 1.2 |
| :- | :-: | :-: | :-: |
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| *virtio-gpu* | No | No | **Yes** |
| *virtio-video* | No | No | **Yes** |
| *virtio-snd* | No | No | **Yes** |
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| *virtio-blk* | No | No | No |
| *virtio-scsi* | No | No | No |
| *virtio-fs* | No | No | No |
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| *virtio-net* | No | No | No |
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| *virtio-keyboard* | No | No | No |
| *virtio-tablet* | No | No | No |
| *virtio-wayland* | No | No | No |
| *virtio-console* | No | No | No |
## Resources
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* Specifications
* [Version 1.0 ](https://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.0/virtio-v1.0.html ) of the specification for Virtual I/O Devices
* [Version 1.1 ](https://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.1/csprd01/virtio-v1.1-csprd01.html ) of the specification for Virtual I/O Devices
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* OASIS Virtual I/O Device (VIRTIO) [Technical Commitee's Page ](https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=virtio )
