Microsoft is known for the introduction of many new and exciting features with each new version of Windows OS it launches. With Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, (and Windows Server 2008), it introduced an excellent means of backup software for storing the important data in the form of Virtual Hard Disk.
A Virtual Disk or drive is a software component that emulates an actual disk drive, such as an optical disc, a floppy disk, or a hard disk drive. To other programs, a virtual disk looks and behaves like an actual physical device.
Virtual disk come in four file formats that are,
Virtual Hard disk file(VHD)
Hyper-V Hard disk file(VHDX)
Virtual Machine Disk file(VMDK)
Virtual Disk image file(VDI)
What is VHD?
Virtual hard disk (VHD) is file format extension that represents a virtual hard disk. It is typically used as a hard disk of a virtual machine. The format for created by Connectix for their Virtual PC product, known as Microsoft Virtual PC since Microsoft acquired Connectix in 2003. Virtual Hard Disk allows multiple operating systems to run on a single host machine. This method allows developers to test software on different operating systems without the cost of installing a second hard disk or partitioning a single hard disk into multiple volumes or drives. There is the ability to directly modify a virtual machine's hard disk from a host server supports many applications, including moving files between a VHD and the host file system, Patching, Image Management, Anti-virus, Recovery, and Backup.
Where VHD files can be used?
VHD was initially used only by Microsoft virtual PC and Microsoft Virtual Servers. After that Microsoft used the format VHD and make the use of this format in Complete PC backup, a backup software component which included Window vista and 7. Many programs recognize the VHD format, that includes Oracle’s VirtualBox virtual machine software, which is available for OS X and Linux.
What is VHDX?
Hyper-V Hard disk file(VHDX) is file format extension that describes the Virtual file format. The X was added to the current specification so that there is no confusion with the older VHD format. One of the essential example of VHDX, when compared with VHD Format, is the storage capacity. Before Windows Server 2012, Virtual hard disks had a 2 TB limit but now VHDX files have a 64 TB capacity. The advantages of VHDX aren't limited to improved capacity but also VHDX files were designed to work with today's modern hardware. The VHDX format also provides protection against file corruption related to power failures by continuously keeping track of updates in the metadata, a feature not available with the VHD format.
Where VHDX files can be used?
The release of Windows Server 2012 brought many new improvements in virtualization, but the most eye-catching were VHDX file format. Windows Server 2012 supported the new format but also lets Hyper-V administrators use VHD format. However, VHDX file can be used by Windows 8+ and Windows Server 2012+, due to very large file format it can't be used by Windows vista and 7 nor by Oracle’s VirtualBox virtual machine software.
What is VMDK?
Virtual Machine Disk file(VMDK) is another file format extension that acts as containers for the virtual hard disk to be used in virtual machines like VMware Workstation or VirtualBox. It stores the content of VMware virtual machine. VMDX is file format specification used by VMware virtual machine files. One of the main example is that using this file format, files can be easily moved between the server. Similarly, a single file can be saved by taking a snapshot of the file. The huge drawback to a single file for VMDK, it is impossible to recover the corrupted data only a part of data can be recovered.
Where can VMDK files be used?
VMDK extension file for the virtual machine using VMware virtualization products or other platforms that support VMDK files such as QEMU, VMware VirtualBox or Sun XVM.
What is VDI?
Virtual Disk image file(VDI) file format extension associated with the specification for VirtualBox that is Virtual Disk Image and stores data in files like *.vdi. This file is a open platform based file format that runs on multiple operating systems and developed by Oracle. VDI is a method to create an image of a virtual machine’s hard disk to be later used for disk backup, restoration or copying to a new virtual machine. The VDI captures all information on the primary disk, typically excluding the operating system files and the virtual machine itself. Additionally, being a disk image of a virtual hard disk, a virtual disk image can also refer to the disk image of a CD, DVD or any other optical disk. We can also say, it can act as a container and stores data in the form of an image.
Where can VDI files be used?
VDI file format is the platform based Disk File Format that runs on multiple operating systems, developed by Oracle. Generally, it supports VirtualBox including, Linux, OSX, Windows.
In the computer world, data that are stored or retrieved is controlled by a proper File System. Without this file system, any information stored in a storage would be one big body of data with no one can tell where a piece of information stops and next starts. So, by separating the data into number of pieces and providing each piece with the name, the information is easy to find.
File System which is supported by all the Virtual Hard disk formats are: Fat(16/32/64), HFS+, EXTX and NTFS.
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