US Patent 9047238 Creating a virtual machine from a snapshot

A computer system generates a clone of a virtual machine from a point-in-time snapshot backup by collapsing metadata snapshots and storage snapshots into a virtual machine image. The computer system identifies a clone request for a virtual machine, the clone request comprising a point-in-time reference, retrieves at least one metadata snapshot and at least one storage snapshot based on the point-in-time reference, combines the at least one metadata snapshot and the at least one storage snapshot into a virtual machine image, and provisions a new virtual machine based on the virtual machine image.