What is the primary function of a hypervisor?

The primary function of a hypervisor is to allocate resources to virtual environments. A hypervisor acts as a layer between the hardware and the operating systems that run on virtual machines (VMs). Its role includes managing the distribution of physical hardware resources, such as CPU, memory, and storage, amongst multiple virtual machines. This allows for efficient utilization of hardware, as well as the ability to run multiple operating systems on a single physical machine simultaneously.

By allocating resources effectively, a hypervisor ensures that each virtual machine receives the necessary requirements to operate smoothly, promoting both performance and isolation between different VMs. This feature is critical in cloud computing and virtualization, where resource management is essential for efficiency and scalability.

The other options pertain to different functions not associated with a hypervisor. Task scheduling on a server is typically managed by the server's operating system rather than the hypervisor. Managing database transactions is a function performed by database management systems. Monitoring network traffic is usually handled by networking software and tools rather than the hypervisor itself. Thus, the correct understanding of a hypervisor centers around its function in resource allocation for virtual environments.