When the parent volume modifies a block, what happens to the clone's data?

When the parent volume modifies a block, what happens to the clone's data?

• A. The clone's data immediately updates to match the parent
• B. The clone's data remains unchanged and a new block is created for the parent
• C. The clone loses data and becomes a snapshot
• D. The clone becomes read-only

Answer: (B)

Copy-on-write cloning behavior is being tested here. When a clone is created, the parent and the clone initially share the same data blocks. If the parent modifies a block, NetApp doesn’t alter the shared block. Instead, it allocates a new block for the parent and updates only the parent’s pointer to that new block, while the clone continues to reference the original block. So the clone’s data stays unchanged, and the parent gets its updated version. This is what makes clones space-efficient and keeps them writable rather than turning into a snapshot or a read-only copy.

Copy-on-write cloning behavior is being tested here. When a clone is created, the parent and the clone initially share the same data blocks. If the parent modifies a block, NetApp doesn’t alter the shared block. Instead, it allocates a new block for the parent and updates only the parent’s pointer to that new block, while the clone continues to reference the original block. So the clone’s data stays unchanged, and the parent gets its updated version. This is what makes clones space-efficient and keeps them writable rather than turning into a snapshot or a read-only copy.