Create a Copy of a Custom Compute Engine Virtual Machine

D.

A custom image belongs only to your project.

To create an instance with a custom image, you must first have a custom image.

To create a copy of a custom Compute Engine virtual machine to accommodate an expected increase in application traffic due to a business acquisition, you can use snapshots and images.

A snapshot is a point-in-time copy of the virtual machine's persistent disk, while an image is a pre-configured virtual machine that you can use to create new instances.

Option A suggests creating a Compute Engine snapshot of your base VM and then creating images from that snapshot. This approach will work but is not the most efficient method, as you will need to create a new image every time you need a new instance, which can be time-consuming.

Option B suggests creating a Compute Engine snapshot of your base VM and then creating instances from that snapshot. This approach is also not ideal, as it requires you to create new instances from the same snapshot, which can lead to disk space issues and increased costs.

Option C suggests creating a custom Compute Engine image from a snapshot and then creating images from that image. This approach is better than options A and B because it allows you to create multiple instances from a single image, reducing disk space usage and simplifying the instance creation process.

Option D suggests creating a custom Compute Engine image from a snapshot and then creating instances from that image. This is the most efficient approach because it allows you to create multiple instances from a single image, which can reduce disk space usage and simplify the instance creation process.

Therefore, the best option for creating a copy of a custom Compute Engine virtual machine to facilitate an expected increase in application traffic due to a business acquisition is to choose option D, which involves creating a custom Compute Engine image from a snapshot and then creating instances from that image.