Scale Computing HC3 leverages block reference counting to avoid having to copy blocks of data when creating a clone of a virtual machine. Because block reference counting is integrated in both the storage protocol as well as the RSDs, it is very fast and eliminates a round-trip when performing copy-on-write actions.

The clone feature on a HC3 cluster will create an identical VM to the parent, but with its own unique name and description. The clone VM will be completely independent from the parent VM once it is created.