Which capability is unique to FlexClone volumes compared to SnapMirror relationships?

Which capability is unique to FlexClone volumes compared to SnapMirror relationships?

• A. Asynchronous data replication
• B. Synchronous read/write mirroring
• C. Instant creation of writable copies without full data duplication
• D. Cross-cluster disaster recovery protection

Answer: (C)

The capability being tested is the ability to create a writable clone instantly without duplicating data. FlexClone volumes are built from a Snapshot using copy-on-write techniques, so the new clone starts as a space-efficient reference to the same data blocks as the source. It becomes writable immediately, and only when either the clone or the source writes to a block does NetApp allocate new space for the changed data. This means you can provision testing or development environments, sandboxes, or read/write copies quickly without copying the entire dataset. SnapMirror relationships, by contrast, are about moving or mirroring data to another system for disaster recovery or data mobility. They focus on replication (often asynchronous, and in some setups synchronous within MetroCluster) rather than creating writable clones on the same or another system. Cross-cluster DR protection is provided by replication, not by the cloning capability itself.

The capability being tested is the ability to create a writable clone instantly without duplicating data. FlexClone volumes are built from a Snapshot using copy-on-write techniques, so the new clone starts as a space-efficient reference to the same data blocks as the source. It becomes writable immediately, and only when either the clone or the source writes to a block does NetApp allocate new space for the changed data. This means you can provision testing or development environments, sandboxes, or read/write copies quickly without copying the entire dataset.

SnapMirror relationships, by contrast, are about moving or mirroring data to another system for disaster recovery or data mobility. They focus on replication (often asynchronous, and in some setups synchronous within MetroCluster) rather than creating writable clones on the same or another system. Cross-cluster DR protection is provided by replication, not by the cloning capability itself.