CompTIA Tech+ (FC0-U71)InfrastructureMedium
A systems administrator is about to install an untested software update on a virtual machine. Before doing so, the administrator saves the current state of the VM so that the system can be instantly reverted if the update causes problems. Which virtualization feature is being used?
- ASandboxing
- BClustering
- CSnapshot
- DLoad balancing
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Snapshot
A snapshot captures the state of a virtual machine at a specific point in time, allowing an administrator to quickly revert to that state if something goes wrong, such as a failed update. Load balancing distributes traffic, sandboxing isolates code for testing without necessarily reverting state, and clustering groups servers for redundancy/performance.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Sandboxing isolates a program for safe testing but doesn't inherently save/restore state.
- B. Clustering groups multiple servers together for high availability, not rollback.
- D. Load balancing distributes workload across servers, not state preservation.
VM Snapshot
A saved point-in-time image of a virtual machine's state, allowing quick rollback after changes like updates or configuration errors.
- Captures disk, memory, and settings state
- Enables fast rollback if issues occur
- Common before risky updates or testing
Memory trick: A snapshot is a photo of the VM you can step back into.