What is the default format for delta disks on VMFS6 datastores?

The default format for delta disks on VMFS6 datastores being SEsparse is significant because it allows for efficient storage management and flexibility in handling virtual machine snapshots. SEsparse disks utilize a space-efficient sparse format designed specifically for virtual disk files, optimizing storage utilization and performance. This format allocates space on demand, ensuring that only the necessary storage is used, which can lead to reduced storage costs and improved efficiency.

With SEsparse, the virtual machine can handle snapshots in a way that minimizes space consumption while still supporting the necessary features of snapshot operations. This is particularly important in environments where multiple virtual machines might be rapidly created, modified, and deleted, which can create large amounts of snapshot data. The use of SEsparse allows administrators to manage this data more efficiently and effectively.

In contrast, the other formats listed have distinct characteristics that might not provide the same benefits in terms of space efficiency for delta disks. Thin and thick provisioned formats, for example, allocate storage differently, and flat disks do not offer the same sparse allocation capabilities, which can lead to more storage being consumed upfront. Thus, utilizing SEsparse for delta disks aligns with best practices for optimizing storage in VMware environments.