Which vSphere feature allows a vSphere administrator to create an exact replica of a virtual machine?

Cloning is the feature in vSphere that allows a vSphere administrator to create an exact replica of a virtual machine. When a virtual machine is cloned, a copy of the original VM is made, including its virtual disk, configuration settings, and all attached devices. This is useful for testing, development, and backup purposes, as it enables administrators to quickly deploy new virtual machines based on an existing configuration without having to set everything up from scratch.

In contrast, fault tolerance is designed to provide continuous availability by creating a live shadow instance of a VM, ensuring that if the primary VM fails, the secondary VM can take over without downtime. While snapshots capture the state of a VM at a specific point in time, allowing for rollbacks or backups, they do not create a separate, functional replica. vMotion, on the other hand, is the technology that allows for the live migration of a VM from one physical host to another without downtime; it does not create a copy but rather moves the VM.

Therefore, the ability to create a full, independent copy of a virtual machine is specifically what cloning offers within the vSphere environment.