Which virtualization component manages virtual services and connects them to external interfaces?

Software is the correct answer because a hypervisor, which is a type of software, is responsible for managing virtual machines (VMs) and their access to underlying hardware resources. It virtualizes the network interfaces and connects them to the physical network. Network functionality is too broad; while virtualization enables network functionality, it's the software that performs the management. A virtual machine is the guest operating system and applications, not the component that manages the virtualization. Hardware provides the physical resources but doesn't manage the virtual services or their connections.