VM Save State vs APFS Duplicate image for Backups?

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I currently duplicate my VM via cron in order to make backups every 3 hrs per day, and keep one of those for 7 daily backups per week. I was wondering though if the 'Save State' feature made for a safer backup option, since they include memory state as I understand.

1. Is it possible to automate Save State via virtualbuddy:// URL ?
2. will the state file take up a similar amount of disk space, should I want to do this every 3 hrs ?