9.6.2 Sparse Grid Disks

Sparse grid disks allocate space as new data is written to the disk, and therefore have a virtual size that can be much larger than the actual physical size. Sparse grid disks can be used to create a sparse disk group to store database files that will use a small portion of their allocated space. Sparse disk groups are especially useful for quickly and efficiently creating database snapshots on Oracle Exadata. Traditional databases can also be created using a sparse disk group.

Minimum hardware: Storage nodes must be X3 or later

Minimum software: Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) release 12.1.0.2 BP5 or later.