This recipe showed you how to create snapshots, bring data back from a snapshot, and how to instantly clone persistent volumes on Kubernetes.

In the Restoring a volume from a snapshot via CSI and Cloning a volume via CSI recipes, we added a dataSource to our PVC that references an existing PVC so that a completely independent, new PVC is created. The resulting PVC can be attached, cloned, snapshotted, or deleted independently if the source is deleted. The main difference is that right after provisioning the PVC, instead of an empty PV, the backend device provisions an exact duplicate of the specified volume.

It's important to note that native cloning support is available for dynamic provisioners using CSI drivers that have already implemented this feature. The CSI project is continuing to evolve and mature, so not every storage vendor provides full CSI capabilities.