Hello,

I've got strange issue with Windows Server 2012R2 / ReFS and sparse files.

To manage sparse files I used fsutil tool.

fsutil file   createnew c:\test.txt 0x200000    // Create 2048KB file, filled with zeroes

fsutil sparse setflag c:\test.txt               // Mark file as sparse

fsutil sparse setrange c:\test.txt 0 0x200000   // Mark specified region in file as sparse to save the space on disc

If I use this set of commands in Windows Sever 2012 / ReFS environment the file size on disk is 64KB but the same set of commands run in Windows Server 2012R2 and ReFS

do not save the disc space (the size on disk is still 2048KB). Do you have any idea what can cause such behaviour?

According documentation ReFS (resilient file system) supports sparse files. Was something changed in Windows Server 2012 R2?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

• Edited by cciapocka Tuesday, July 28, 2015 6:49 AM
• Moved by Franklin ChenMicrosoft contingent staff Wednesday, July 29, 2015 5:16 AM Server question

What are cluster sizes in both cases?

Hi,

I tried to format disks in 2 VMs (2012/2012R2) with same cluster size (64K) and I can reproduce the issue.

I'm still search for a possible explanation and will update if anything I got.

Hi,

 yes, I've 64K cluster too. Thanks for advise.