Backing up with Time Machine to a NAS or other network storage is different. Here’s an account of how it creates and handles sparse bundle storage in Ventura 13.2.
APFS
How APFS can trim free space in a read/write disk image and transform it into a sparse file, so it uses storage more efficiently.
Plain read/write (UDRW), sparse image (UDSP), and sparse bundle (UDSB) compared for storage efficiency, performance, and convenience.
In Monterey and Ventura, regular read-write UDRW disk images can now be APFS sparse files, and work more efficiently than sparse images or sparse bundles.
Disk images originated in the 1960s, and are still valuable tools in modern macOS. They have their limitations, though, and in some cases should be replaced by APFS volumes.
Virtual Machines for lightweight virtualisation on Apple silicon Macs rely on sparse files. Here are tips to ensure they stay small and don’t explode to full size.
How APFS containers and volumes work. What hard links, clones and sparse files are, and when they break down.
You’re in control of a traditional file system, but with snapshots, clones, sparse files and other volumes sharing free space, APFS isn’t as simple.
Making sense of the SMART indicators for NVMe SSDs, including all recent models fitted by Apple to Macs.
The iPad Pro has the same M2 chip as a MacBook Air, a keyboard and trackpad, and a single Thunderbolt/USB4 port, but there the similarities end.
The Eclectic Light Company 