Zone conversion is used in the following processes:
Transforming global zones into non-global zones, also known as physical to virtual (P2V) conversion
Transforming non-global zones into global zones
Transforming Oracle Solaris 10 native zones to solaris10 branded zones on an upgraded system by using an archive
On Oracle Solaris 11, zone conversions using archives can be part of a zone migration strategy. Migration can also involve data transfer using archives.