What type of deployment does a virtual appliance represent in Sophos solutions?

A virtual appliance in Sophos solutions represents a software-based solution designed to run on virtualized hardware. It utilizes hypervisors to execute the appliance within a virtual environment, which allows for the flexibility of deployment and management without being tied to physical hardware limitations. This characteristic aligns closely with cloud-based infrastructures, where virtual appliances can be deployed in various cloud environments, ensuring greater scalability and ease of integration with existing cloud services.

This type of deployment allows organizations to utilize their existing cloud resources or set up new environments quickly and efficiently, adapting to needs that may change over time. Additionally, the use of virtual appliances can streamline management and deployment processes, reducing the physical space and power consumption associated with traditional on-premises hardware installations.