CompTIA Cloud+ Practice Test

What does a snapshot allow you to do with a virtual machine?

1. Clone it

2. View its configuration

3. Restore it to a previous point

4. Delete it

The correct answer is: Restore it to a previous point

A snapshot is a powerful feature in virtualization that captures the state of a virtual machine at a specific point in time. This includes not just the VM's data, but also its configuration and the state of its operating system. When you create a snapshot, you can revert the virtual machine back to that point, effectively restoring it to a previous state. This is particularly useful for situations such as testing software, where you might want to roll back to a clean state if something goes wrong. Restoring a snapshot allows users to recover from errors or changes that may have negatively impacted the virtual machine's performance or functionality. This provides a quick and efficient way to ensure operational continuity without the need for extensive backup and recovery processes. In the context of the other options, cloning a virtual machine creates an entirely new instance based on the current state of the original VM, but it does not involve returning to a previous state. Viewing the configuration provides insight into the VM's settings rather than enabling any form of restoration. Deleting a virtual machine removes it entirely from the system, which is the opposite of what snapshots are designed to facilitate. Thus, the ability to restore to a previous point is what sets snapshots apart as a critical tool in managing virtual machines.