Whole Root Zones vs. Sparse Root Zones

The choice between using whole root non-global zones versus sparse root non-global zones depends upon a trade-off between resource efficiencies and administrative control. Whole root zones allow you to maximize administrative control (independence and isolation) at the cost of memory and other resources, while sparse root zones optimize the efficient sharing of executables and shared libraries (while using a much smaller disk footprint) at the cost of administrative independence. There is currently no measure of the performance advantage of sparse root zones over whole root zones; it is very likely to be software-specific.