Streamline Running a virtual machine does not mean that it has to be hosted on the cloud.
The developer can simply run any virtualization software like VMware Workstation, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, and others on the laptop, and set up the VM in a matter of minutes. The OS would run in a virtual environment, and at the same time would use the resources of the host computer’s CPU, memory, and storage.
This is the same general principle as for a cloud VM, except that the hardware would be located at the datacenter of the cloud service provider.
This makes the whole picture of the VM almost completely different in terms of available capacity, maintenance of the hardware, access methods, and scalability of the solution.
Both methods cannot be considered absolutely good or bad as each of them is suited to a different situation.
The VM itself may look similar
From inside the guest operating system, local and cloud virtual machines can feel surprisingly alike.
Both may have:
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Virtual CPUs
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Allocated RAM
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Virtual disks
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Virtual network adapters
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Their own operating systems
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Snapshots or images
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Isolated applications
You can install Ubuntu on both. You can run a Windows development environment on both. You can host a database inside either.
The important difference is where those resources come from.
A local VM borrows them from your own machine.
A cloud VM gets them from remote infrastructure built specifically to host virtual workloads.
That becomes important the moment the VM needs more than one laptop or workstation can comfortably provide.
Local virtualization is hard to beat for quick testing
Local virtualization would be ideal for development and testing purposes.
Assuming that a developer needs to check if the application still works in Ubuntu version x, there would be no point in provisioning a remote infrastructure just to test for an hour and then terminate it after that period of time. The developer could create a local VM, use it, destroy it, and delete it eventually.
Thus, local virtualization could be utilized for:
software testing; trying out applications in different operating systems without having to change your computer.
security lab; testing some tools and configurations.
learning; experimenting with Linux, networking, databases, or server administration.
legacy applications; running applications which require an old operating system version.
The most obvious benefit of using local virtualization is convenience.
After installing virtualization software, a developer could start building various environments immediately.
Your laptop still sets the limit
The problem with local virtualization is that virtualization does not create resources.
It divides the resources you already have.
Suppose a laptop has 16 GB of RAM. Giving 8 GB to a VM means that memory is no longer available to the host operating system while the VM is using it.
Run two or three VMs and that limit appears quickly.
The same applies to CPU capacity and storage.
A VM compiling software while another runs a database can leave the host machine struggling to keep up. Laptop cooling and battery life are also very different from what you would expect from server infrastructure.
For short-lived development work, this may not matter.
For production, it becomes a much bigger issue.
Cloud VMs separate the workload from your computer
A cloud virtual machine runs on remote infrastructure, so your laptop no longer has to provide the CPU, memory, storage, or uptime.
You access the VM through the network and use it just like a remote server.
It gives you a good separation.
Your laptop goes off but the VM continues to run.
The developers on your team could develop from different locations and access the same environment.
When there is a need for more memory in the future, the VM can be migrated to a bigger setup without having to buy a new workstation for that person.
This is why cloud VMs work better in production and shared environments.
Production changes the decision
A local VM may be perfectly stable while a developer is using it.
That does not make the laptop underneath it production infrastructure.
Consider what a public application needs:
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Reliable power
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Stable internet connectivity
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Backups
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Monitoring
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Remote access
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Network security
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Hardware maintenance
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Capacity for traffic spikes
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Recovery when something fails
Hosting the website on the VM on the office computer creates a dependency on the reliability of that office computer as well.
The failure of the SSD, power loss, operating system reboot, or disconnection of the router may cause failure of the website as well.
Hosting on cloud infrastructure allows shifting a majority of that dependency to the datacenter.
What about performance?
A local VM avoids internet latency when the user and workload are on the same computer.
That can make it pleasant for interactive development.
A cloud VM introduces a network connection between you and the machine. Remote desktop sessions, SSH commands, file transfers, and application traffic all travel over that connection.
The trade-off is that the remote machine can have far more resources than your local system.
A developer with an 8-core laptop may only be able to spare four cores for a VM. A remote environment can be configured with much more compute if the workload requires it.
So the right performance question is not simply local versus cloud.
Ask what is limiting the workload.
If the task needs little compute and lots of interactive work, local may feel faster.
If the task needs sustained CPU, large amounts of RAM, or several servers working together, remote infrastructure becomes much more attractive.
Storage works differently too
Local VMs store virtual disks on the host computer.
That is simple until the VM becomes large.
A few test machines can easily consume hundreds of gigabytes. Snapshots create additional storage usage, and backing everything up means protecting both the host and its VM files.
Cloud VMs use remote storage designed around server workloads.
That also means storage becomes something teams need to manage deliberately.
A VM may need fast block storage for an application database, cheaper capacity for archives, and snapshots for recovery.
Local storage may be simpler.
Cloud storage is usually more flexible.
Cloud does not mean unlimited resources
It is easy to think of cloud infrastructure as infinite.
It is not.
The difference is that you can usually request more resources without physically installing hardware yourself.
That flexibility still has a cost.
A VM running 24 hours a day consumes paid infrastructure whether someone is actively using it or not. Oversized development machines can quietly remain online after a project finishes.
Local virtualization has the opposite cost profile.
You have already bought the computer, so creating another small VM may not create a new hourly bill. The limitation appears when that computer runs out of resources.
This makes local VMs attractive for frequent small experiments and cloud VMs attractive when flexibility, scale, or availability matters enough to justify ongoing infrastructure cost.
Backups expose another important difference
Snapshots are helpful; however, they cannot be considered part of a complete backup solution.
That holds true for both options.
The problem with keeping a VM locally on one laptop is that it is exposed to any risks associated with local storage.
Any critical local environment should always have its VM file, application information, and configuration backed up.
Cloud-based VMs are subject to backups as well.
Just because a VM resides in a data center, does not mean that its information will never get deleted, damaged, or misconfigured.
The good news is that cloud solutions offer infrastructure that helps implement snapshots, separate storage, and backup procedures.
But it is up to the user to configure all of it.
When local virtualization makes more sense
Keep the VM local when the workload is temporary, personal, and small enough for the machine you already own.
Good examples include:
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Learning Linux
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Testing software installers
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Trying another operating system
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Building isolated development environments
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Running disposable security labs
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Testing network configurations
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Supporting old desktop software
In these cases, buying remote infrastructure may add complexity without solving a real problem.
When moving the VM to the cloud starts to make sense
The decision usually changes once other people or systems depend on the machine.
Consider cloud infrastructure when:
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The VM needs to stay online when your computer is off
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Multiple people need access
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The workload is customer-facing
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More CPU or memory is required
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Backups need to be automated
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Remote access is important
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The application needs predictable networking
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Several VMs need to communicate
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Capacity is likely to grow
A useful dividing line is responsibility.
If shutting your laptop lid should not shut the workload down, the workload probably belongs somewhere else.
You can use both
This is common practice for most technical teams.
A developer can execute the program locally while coding, test it on the cloud VM, and then deploy it to dedicated production hardware.
The purposes of each environment vary.
Virtualization provides developers with speed and flexibility when done locally.
Cloud VMs provide shared resources that are independent of any particular machine.
Often it makes more sense to treat them as complementary than to argue over which is better.
Verdict
Local virtualization software and cloud VMs solve similar technical problems at very different scales.
Local VMs are excellent for development, testing, experimentation, learning, and workloads that only one person needs. They are easy to create and make good use of hardware you already own.
Cloud VMs become more useful when the workload needs to stay online, support multiple users, scale beyond one machine, or run independently of whoever created it.
Start with the workload rather than the platform.
If the VM can disappear when your laptop shuts down, local virtualization may be all you need.
If people expect it to still be running tomorrow morning, remote infrastructure starts making much more sense.
Frequently asked questions
Is a cloud VM the same as a local virtual machine?
Both virtualize computing resources, but a local VM uses hardware inside your own computer. A cloud VM runs on remote data center infrastructure.
Are local VMs free?
Virtualization software may be free depending on the product and license, but the VM still uses your computer’s CPU, memory, storage, and electricity.
Can I host a website inside a local VM?
Technically, yes. For public production websites, reliable networking, power, security, availability, and hardware maintenance make dedicated hosting or cloud infrastructure more practical.
When should I move a local VM to the cloud?
Consider moving when the VM needs continuous availability, remote access, collaboration, greater capacity, or independence from one physical computer.
Can developers use local and cloud VMs together?
Yes. A common workflow uses local VMs for development and remote VMs for shared testing, staging, or production environments.
