1. A method comprising: receiving a request to clone an active and optimized file, the active and optimized file associated with a block map file, the block map file referencing a plurality of objects including a plurality of data segments included in the active and optimized file, wherein the active and optimized file is a virtual image associated with a virtual machine; and cloning the block map file to create a cloned block map file, the cloned block map file referencing the same plurality of objects including the plurality of data segments included in the active and optimized file, wherein a stub file associated with the active and optimized file is cloned to a create a cloned stub file, and wherein the cloned stub file appears in a user viewable namespace as a file separate from the stub file.