What is a primary benefit of using snapshots for virtual machines?

Using snapshots for virtual machines offers a significant advantage in terms of easy backup and recovery of virtual machine states. Snapshots capture the entire state of a virtual machine at a specific point in time, including the VM's disk, memory, and settings. This feature allows administrators to create quick backups of the current VM state before making changes, such as software updates or configuration modifications.

If something goes wrong after making these changes, the virtual machine can be reverted to the snapshot, restoring it to its previous condition without major downtime or data loss. This capability is particularly valuable in testing environments where users need to experiment with different configurations or software without the risk of permanent impact on the VM's functionality or data integrity.

In contrast, the other options refer to benefits not typically associated with snapshots. They focus on performance improvements, which are not directly related to the core purpose of snapshots as they are primarily a tool for state preservation and recovery.