Which process creates a new and separate virtual machine from an existing one?

Cloning is the process that creates a new and separate virtual machine from an existing one. When you clone a virtual machine, you create an exact copy of it, including the operating system, applications, and data. This allows you to replicate the entire environment and can be useful for testing, load balancing, and creating backups of configurations.

In the context of virtualization, cloning enables you to duplicate a virtual machine quickly without the need for a labor-intensive installation process. This is especially beneficial in cloud environments where scaling applications or services rapidly may be necessary.

Snapshotting, on the other hand, creates a point-in-time image of the current state of a virtual machine, allowing for recovery or rollback but not a separate instance. Backing up involves creating a copy of data for recovery purposes, while restoring refers to the action of returning data to its previous state, neither of which leads to the creation of a new virtual machine as cloning does.