Technology has a funny habit of solving one problem but then highlighting another. A typical example of this is the emergence of virtual operating systems, that is an OS that runs on top of another OS. While there are many advantages to many computer users in running these configurations they all rely the humble hard disk , and as fragmentation occurs, this can lead to instability and potentially data loss.
Just like any other software virtual machines still require (unless you have a very specialist setup) to be run from the hard drive, which is still and probably will remain so for many years to come, the slowest part of your system. Drives can be broken in sub parts know as partitions which can then be utilized as a different drive so to speak but hard disk fragmentation is still an issue.
Fragmentation is where a file is split into multiple components by the operating system to allow it to fit in available space of the hard disk drive. When you are already running one operating system, and fragmentation becomes an issue, running another highly fragmented system on top of this causes a tremendous slow down in performance.
Fragmentation will not only slow down your computer or server but due to the excessive and unwarranted extra movement of the heads, the life of your storage device(s) can be seriously reduced. The problem is not only limited to single drives however, even if you have a very well specked raid set up, fragmentation can get so severe that the only viable option is data recovery or server rebuild.
Each operating system will have it's own method of dealing with file fragmentation (or not as the case may be). Whilst Mac OS X will automatically defragment a file under the size of 20mb, windows pays scant regard to how badly files are fragmented. Other systems use a variety of different methods to combat the problem.
Utilizing defragmentation tools can help to alleviate the problem but often the use of some of these tools is very invasive and will render your system virtually unusable while they are running so what other options do you have.
Scheduling a defragmentation is a good bet as you can let it run whilst you are doing another task or perhaps out to lunch. Third party applications can do this extremely well.
Use dedicated hardware for the Virtual Machines: Whilst it may appear to be a contradiction in terms, running the virtual machine from a dedicated hard disk or RAID Array is probably the most efficient method of running the machine at all. It leads to the minimum of wear on the individual hard disk devices and means that running even simultaneous defragmentation is possible. - 16069
Just like any other software virtual machines still require (unless you have a very specialist setup) to be run from the hard drive, which is still and probably will remain so for many years to come, the slowest part of your system. Drives can be broken in sub parts know as partitions which can then be utilized as a different drive so to speak but hard disk fragmentation is still an issue.
Fragmentation is where a file is split into multiple components by the operating system to allow it to fit in available space of the hard disk drive. When you are already running one operating system, and fragmentation becomes an issue, running another highly fragmented system on top of this causes a tremendous slow down in performance.
Fragmentation will not only slow down your computer or server but due to the excessive and unwarranted extra movement of the heads, the life of your storage device(s) can be seriously reduced. The problem is not only limited to single drives however, even if you have a very well specked raid set up, fragmentation can get so severe that the only viable option is data recovery or server rebuild.
Each operating system will have it's own method of dealing with file fragmentation (or not as the case may be). Whilst Mac OS X will automatically defragment a file under the size of 20mb, windows pays scant regard to how badly files are fragmented. Other systems use a variety of different methods to combat the problem.
Utilizing defragmentation tools can help to alleviate the problem but often the use of some of these tools is very invasive and will render your system virtually unusable while they are running so what other options do you have.
Scheduling a defragmentation is a good bet as you can let it run whilst you are doing another task or perhaps out to lunch. Third party applications can do this extremely well.
Use dedicated hardware for the Virtual Machines: Whilst it may appear to be a contradiction in terms, running the virtual machine from a dedicated hard disk or RAID Array is probably the most efficient method of running the machine at all. It leads to the minimum of wear on the individual hard disk devices and means that running even simultaneous defragmentation is possible. - 16069
About the Author:
Author Bio: Mike White is a technology journalist specialising in business IT services and support, Hard Drive Recovery, Raid Recovery consumer electronics and design and technology trends.
