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In computing environments a lot of software and processes are moving to VMs or virtual machines. I am always at a loss as to how to refer to a real, physical computer in comparison to a virtual environment. For example,

Our amazing software can be installed on a VM (virtual machine) or on a real computer.

Our amazing software can be installed on a VM (virtual machine) or on a physical machine.

Is there a better word choice to refer to a real, physical computer particularly in contrast to a VMWare or XenServer virtual computer?

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  • I could try to offer a different word, but instead I'll point out that your sentence contains a lot of unnecessary fluff. Software is installed within an operating system environment. If that operating system happens to be running on a virtual machine, then you have installed your software on a virtual machine. This is not something that you specifically choose to allow or disallow as a developer —the OS will dictate it.
    – Ian MacDonald
    Commented Mar 13, 2015 at 19:05
  • Computers are virtual machines. Computers can do nothing without an OS, which is always a virtual machine. You talking hardware/software, or what?
    – John Lawler
    Commented Mar 13, 2015 at 19:09
  • Thanks for the link to the duplicate question. I did not think to search in the reverse.
    – Val
    Commented Mar 13, 2015 at 20:31

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I've seen physical machine and physical server both used extensively. I tend to think physical server is the most pleasant option.

Real computer is a bad choice as a VM is a real computer. It's just one that's virtualized.

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  • I agree about 'real computer'. I feel 'real' is a vague word in computing.
    – arbitUser1401
    Commented Mar 13, 2015 at 19:31

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