The default serialization format
When you serialize items, Sitecore creates a separate text file for each item it processes. The files are stored under the root folder that the serialization setting specifies, for example: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\sc92\App_Data\serialization\master\sitecore\content\Home.item.
Each text file contains the following information:
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Item definition: version, ID, path, and so on
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Shared fields
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Item versions:
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Version definition, including language version, numbered version, and revision number
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Non-shared fields
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A serialized item looks like this:
Each ----field---- section in the text file has a content-length parameter that specifies the length of the corresponding item field value.
Deeply nested items
In Windows, the length of a single path to a file cannot be more than 255 characters. For content trees with multiple nested levels, this limitation can cause items in nested folders to be omitted during the serialization process.
To work around this limitation and serialize all of the requested items, Sitecore sometimes shortens the paths when items are deeply nested. Sitecore stores the serialization output text files for these items in auxiliary file folders with random names under the $dataFolder\serialization folder.
To be able to revert to the full content tree in another Sitecore environment, you must copy both the database folders and the auxiliary folders to the new destination.