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Written By Rohan Wiese
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Updated on December 22nd, 2020
Under What Conditions might it be necessary to create a VHD file rather than a VHDX file
This blog describes the basic concept about Under What Conditions might it be necessary to create a VHD file rather than a VHDX file. what are VHD and VHDX files are? Which one is better and why? Things we can do with VHD/VHDX? How to convert VHD into VHDX? How to convert VHDX to VHD? So, if you are looking for an answer then please read the complete blog.
Virtual Hard Disk aka VHD is a file format which symbolizes a virtual hard disk drive (HDD). It Contains what usually found in physical HDD, like a file system and disk partitions, which enclose different files and folders. For virtual machines, it works as the hard disk drive. Whereas VHDX is the updated version of VHD. It is almost similar to the VHD but has few major upgrades which we will discuss later in the blog.
Also Read: How to Open VHD File in Windows
Why choose VHD files when VHDX files are the better option?
The major reason to choose VHD files over VHDX files is you are exporting the virtual machine into an environment, tool or resource that doesn’t really require VHDX files. A good example is Azure IaaS VMs, that is still based on VHD files.
Note: Azure Site Recovery supports VHDX format, but it will be automatically converted if needed.
Benefits of VHDX provide over VHD?
- VHDX has larger virtual disks up to 64TB compared to VHD which have only of 2TB.
- VHDX provides better resiliency than VHD as it provides protection from corruption by logging all the updates in the VHDX metadata structure. Mostly the cause for the corruption is due to power outages.
- It aligns with 4k disks easily.
- You can resize VHDX online whereas this option is not available in VHD. Having this feature let you either shrink or grow the disk without shutting down the Virtual Machine.
- Most striking and better performance while disk expansion is the main reason why people opt VHDX and migrate VHD to VHDX.
Also Read: How to Fix Hyper V Manager Error
What dependencies Gen 1 and Gen 2 VMs have over different virtual disk offerings?
Gen 1 Virtual Machines can be used for both VHD and VHDX.
Gen 2 Virtual Machines can be used for VHDX only.
Things you can do with a VHD or VHDX file?
With boot to VHD/VHDX feature, you can directly boot into the self-contained operating system that isn’t functioning on a virtualization layer. Also, they are used for implementing Microsoft’s native iSCSI in Windows Server 2012 R2. You can also use 2TB volume as it provides a huge benefit.
How to convert VHD to VHDX?
Use either PowerShell or Hyper-V Manager to convert VHD to VHDX for free.
Use the above methods to convert VHDX to VHD for free, all you need to do is reverse the above process.
Also Read: How to Fix Corrupted VHD File Manually
One line answer why people choose VHD instead of VHDX is Gen 1 dependency means it supports both VHD along with VHDX, including certain Azure VM workloads at some point in time.
About The Author:
Rohan Wiese is a Technical Writer at Aryson Technologies. He is an expert Email Forensic, Cloud Computing, and a passionate nerd with over 10 years of experience in technical content writing. He writes about Cloud Migration, Database Recovery, Email Backup, Windows, Mac, and Tech.
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