How does a volume clone differ from a snapshot?

• A. A snapshot is writable; a clone is read-only.
• B. Both are identical; there is no difference.
• C. A snapshot is a read-only point-in-time image; a volume clone is a writable copy created from a snapshot or base that shares data until modified.
• D. A clone is a point-in-time image.

Answer: (C)

A snapshot is a read-only point-in-time image of a volume. It captures the state of the data at a moment and doesn’t become writable itself, making it ideal for rollback or recovery purposes. A volume clone, by contrast, is a separate writable copy created from a snapshot or a base volume. It starts by sharing data with the source (copy-on-write), and only when you write to the clone are new blocks allocated, so the clone can diverge from the source while initially using the same underlying data. This combination means the clone is a writable copy that shares data until modified, while the snapshot remains a fixed, read-only capture.