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.
sparse bundle
Plain read/write (UDRW), sparse image (UDSP), and sparse bundle (UDSB) compared for storage efficiency, performance, and convenience.
All you need to know about the sparse RAW disk images used inside lightweight VMs on Apple silicon Macs.
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.
If you try compacting a sparse bundle, Spundle and hdiutil could return error 1. This explains why, and fixes Spundle to get over it.
It’s all too easy to lose all previous versions of a document: one false move to another volume, to iCloud, or shared over a network and they’ve gone. How can you preserve them?
They have more options than most new cars. What are they, how do you use them, how to pick the most appropriate, and which tools to use.
Three types of Disk Image, encrypted or not, tested when freshly made or used and remounted. So many variations, but only one type of Disk Image can be trusted for writing.
A Mac Studio Max has an SSD delivering up to 7.4 GB/s, and a CPU up to 50% faster than a 16-core Xeon. Why does it write an encrypted disk image at the speed of a slow hard disk?
The Eclectic Light Company 