Oracle Customers often prefer, the ease of use of using system snapshots (Think Emc clarion, Snapview, Snapshots), for cloning databases. Oracle Sun Zfs storage Appliance has infiniband connectivity and storage snapshot capabilities that can be leveraged to efficiently create database clones.
Oracle has a new white paper that outlines the steps and best practices to use Dataguard in conjunction with the Zfs storage appliance to create database clones using snapshotting technology. This method can also be used with the oracle exadata database machine, keeping in mind a couple of ceavats that are outlined in the white paper.
The white paper can be found at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/features/availability/maa-db-clone-szfssa-172997.pdf
