Hi,
There are multiple type of sparse disk . which are describe below.
sparse virtual disk formats are VMFSsparse (redo-logs) and SEsparse. Sparse VMDKs are created during (1) Creation of linked clones and (2) VM snapshotting. The SEsparse format replaced the VMFSsparse format during creation of linked clones as of vSphere 5.1. In vSphere 5.5, the default sparse format created during VM snapshot operations is still VMFSsparse. However, this is true only for VMs with VMDKs less than 2TB in size because that is the maximum size supported by VMFSsparse. vSphere 5.5 supports VMDKs larger than 2TB in size, and a snapshot of a VM with VMDKs bigger than 2TB will use the SEsparse format. This distinction is handled internally and is transparent to the user.
Other sparts types/formats are given below.
2gbsparse – A sparse disk with 2GB maximum extent size. You can use disks in this format with other VMware products, however, you cannot power on sparse disk on a ESX host till you reimport the disk with vmkfstools in a compatible format, such as thick or thin.
monosparse – A monolithic sparse disk. You can use disks in this format with other VMware products.
All the best,
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Anjani Kumar
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VMware, Windows
Consulant
Email ID : Anjani.kumar@vmwareminds.com
Website : http://www.Vmwareminds.com