All Things PerfectDisk – and Defrag

In the continuing story of what is missing from the Windows 7 defrag tool, today I’ll touch on drive optimization. PerfectDisk’s patented file placement strategy (SMARTPlacement) is based on file modification activity. This strategy groups files with similar modification patterns together, in a single pass. Since the rarely modified files are typically unchanged and grouped together, PerfectDisk is not required to use resources to process them during a subsequent defrag. This saves system resources and improves speed, as the drive is in essence “shrunk,” and you get a fast defrag on subsequent passes.

The recently modified files are adjacent to the contiguous free space. If one of these files grows, the fragment will be created in one piece from the contiguous free space. As a result, fewer defrag passes are actually needed, saving more system resources.

                                            

The Windows 7 defragmenter has no file placement strategy whatsoever. Files are defragmented haphazardly with no regard to type and usage pattern. No consideration is made to slow the rate of fragmentation build up. No attempt is made to improve the speed of subsequent defragmentation passes in order to reduce resource impact, and no attempt at free space consolidation for the best possible write performance is made. As a result, the Windows 7 defrag will never provide the same level of performance and resource optimization that PerfectDisk does.

Lucky 7? Not if you're going to defrag Windows. 

                                           

• Windows 7 defrag -- no file or folder exclusion
• Windows 7 defrag in a corporate environment
• Windows 7 defrag -- real world, real guy
• Defrag for Windows  7 -- "Raxco Software has outdone itself again"
   

                         

There are a few questions that often come up with regards to the PerfectDisk virtualization defrag solutions in the vSphere/ESX environments, versus the standard PerfectDisk server defrag.   

1. What does PerfectDisk 10 for vSphere offer that PerfectDisk 10 Server does not?

Or in other words, what's the difference between performing a Windows Server 2008 defrag (or earlier server versions) and a virtualization defrag? There are various differences but the following two key points summarize the major points:

A. The vSphere-specific product offers an exclusive, patent-pending feature called "Virtualization Awareness" that allows file system optimization to take place without the contention for resources that normally takes place with automatic background defragmentation. This ensures that optimizations run dynamically without supervision or intervention, while never negatively impacting performance. It also offers integration features for VMware's vCenter and support for vMotion.

B. Licensing for the vSphere product is offered per physical host with volume pricing. This means unlimited Client/Guest licenses are provided once the physical host is licensed. This also means no consideration as to the number of Guests or even the number of CPUs needs to be taken. In the example of a vSphere environment with 10 instances of ESX Server 3.5/4.0 running, that would equate to 10 licenses of "PerfectDisk10 vSphere."

2. Does the vSphere product perform defragmentation on the ESX layer / VMFS? Does it install on the ESX Hosts or just the Guests?

No. VMFS does not support external file system optimization. Installation does not take place on the physical ESX host, a small agent is instead installed on each Windows based Guest.

3. Is any modification of the vSphere environment required in order to use PerfectDisk 10 vSphere?

No. The use of PerfectDisk10 vSphere does not require any modification to your existing configuration. 

                                                    

Smarter. Simpler. Priced for today's world.

                                                        

Defragmenting computer or your Windows Home Server on a Friday night? Seems like a great idea!

Tim Daleo did just that on Friday night. Tim is a Project Resource Analyst and Oracle Applications Trainer for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Tim currently runs a Dell Power Edge server running Windows Home Server and a HP MSS at an off-site location. On Friday nights, Tim posts in the Using Windows Home Server blog - which classifies itself as "your number one stop for all things Microsoft Windows Home Server, Windows Media Center and anything in the Connected Home."

                              

Tim provides a good overview of PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server, although he is still looking for the definitive answer as to whether disk defrag software is needed, especially since there is not a Microsoft defrag for Windows Home Server.

Here is how Tim concludes his review:

Overall I like the functionality and interface of PerfectDisk 10. If you are looking for a Disk Defragmenter for your WHS then this is a great choice. In addition, like I said earlier, their manual has 325 pages so there is a lot more to it then what I covered here.

Only time will tell whether PerfectDisk10, and disk defragmentation in general, is worth the effort and money. For now I will give PerfectDisk 10 the benefit of the doubt.

That said…does WHS really need a Disk Defragmenter? Microsoft would have included it if it needed it, right?"

                                                             

Well, PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server lets you not only defrag the server but also defrag PC or multiple PCs in your environment. One of the reasons HP partnered with PerfectDisk for its MediaSmart Servers is that its testing showed PerfectDisk would eliminate hard drive fragmentation, consolidate free space to speed backups, and allow HP users to stream media faster.

HP recognizes the need to defrag Windows Home Servers, and it has partnered with the leading disk defrag utility as part of its validation. This review provides some more insight. And thousands of users around the world provide more evidence.

Your entire connected home defragmented is a better-connected home. You can read the entire review here.

                                       
Writing on TechRepublic a couple of weeks ago, Erik Eckel covered 10 things you can do to keep Exchange running smoothly. Naturally, I was intrigued to see 20% of his list for keeping Exchange running smoothly was defragmentation specific. Now, to properly defrag Exchange, there are two aspects -- online and offline -- and Erik hits them both.

For background, Erik is a managing partner at Louisville Geek and president of Eckel Media Corp. He previously served as Executive Editor at CNET Networks' TechRepublic.

Number 3 on Erik's list reads as follows:

Review defragmentation operations

Exchange servers include default online maintenance operations, which are typically scheduled during off hours. Among the tasks the automated maintenance operations perform are transaction log management and database integrity checks and defragmentation.

When database checks begin, Exchange notes the event using ID 700 within application log files. When full online defragmentation passes complete within allotted time, Event ID 701 is recorded. If a full online defragmentation is interrupted, such as by a backup operation, Event ID 704 is recorded. When interrupted maintenance operations ultimately complete, Event ID 703 is written within the server’s application log.

Administrators should regularly review the server’s event logs to confirm that these operations are completing without error. While failures typically appear within daily performance reports, manually reviewing these records helps ensure failures are not overlooked. 

                                         

Number 9 on Erik's list is the following: 

Defragment database stores using Eseutil

Not necessarily for the faint of heart, Eseutil is Microsoft’s utility for manually defragmenting Exchange information stores and directories offline, going all the way back to Exchange version 5.5. The utility should not be used before first creating and verifying an Exchange backup.

Defragmenting an Exchange store typically improves performance by contiguously locating storage data, eliminating unused storage, and compacting the Exchange database. I’ve even seen Eseutil recover failed or corrupted Exchange stores on Small Business Servers.

Running the Eseutil command with the /c switch performs a restore operation, while running the command with the /d switch instructs the system to defragment the .edb database and leave the new defragmented database in a temporary location without overwriting the original database. Using the /d switch with the /p switch adds repair operation. Running the command with the /g switch simply verifies the logical integrity of the Exchange database. Numerous other switches are available, and you can research them online.

I especially like Erik's comment that Eseutil is not necessarily for the faint of heart. Indeed. This is really what led us to develop PerfectDisk Exchange. Eseutil can be a bear, and several years ago  our Exchange administrator spent much of a weekend using, playing fighting it. The result of that frustration was PerfectDisk Exchange, which automates the defragmentation and compaction of Exchange databases via Eseutil. It's a huge time saver (and aggravation saver) for administrators looking to perform their offline defrag Exchange database.  

And while Erik correctly points out the performance benefits, we hear regularly from users who have recaptured lots of disk space. We run PerfectDisk Exchange regularly here at Raxco, and we're always recapturing several gigabytes of space. Without the PerfectDisk Exchange tool, it's too cumbersome and the defrag Exchange job just wouldn't be done as frequently. 

Defrag Exchange today to keep it running smoothly -- and more.

                                   
 

                                       
In a press release from StorageNewsletter.com today, the University of California, San Diego has released a report that states U.S. households consumed approximately 3.6 zettabytes of information in 2008, with the bulk coming from computer games and TV. Some of the numbers are truly mind boggling. For example, Americans consumed information for about 1.3 trillion hours, an average of almost 12 hours per day. Consumption totaled 3.6 zettabytes and 10,845 trillion words, corresponding to 100,500 words and 34 gigabytes for an average person on an average day.

Wow - no wonder Grandma and Grandpa say life was a lot simpler back in the day!

                                                

And while the tried and true, "traditional" methods of consumption (radio and tv) dominate our consumption of information (60%), the UCSD report states that "computers have had major effects on some aspects of information consumption. In the past, information consumption was overwhelmingly passive, with telephone being the only interactive medium. Thanks to computers, a full third of words and more than half of bytes are now received interactively. Reading, which was in decline due to the growth of television, tripled from 1980 to 2008, because it is the overwhelmingly preferred way to receive words on the Internet."

With all this information overload, everything can become easily fragmented -- your brain, your paper files...and of course your computer files. Just another reason it makes sense to schedule defragmentation on your computers today. Even better, set up an automatic fast defrag.

So much data and information to absorb, so little time.

                                        

You can see the entire press release here.
 

                                      
 
One of the many things missing from the built-in Windows 7 defrag is the ability to exclude files or folders. PerfectDisk does provide this ability, and depending on your environment, this could range from a “nice-to-have” to critical.

If you have whole drive encryption (WDE) software installed, there may be certain files that should not be defragmented. But you can’t do this with the built-in Windows 7 defrag. In addition, PerfectDisk supports the following top encryption vendors to ensure seamless compatibility:
 

• PC Guardian
• PGR Whole Disk Encryption
• BestCrypt
• PointSec
• SafeBoot / McAfee Total Endpoint Protection
• SafeNet Protect Drive
• Safeguard Easy
• DESLock+
• WinMagic
   

                                          

And because PerfectDisk allows file and folder exclusion, it can be made to support any encryption solution. With the built-in Windows 7 defrag lack of ability to exclude files and folders, it could end up being directly responsible for the entire loss of an encrypted disk. That's reason enough to consider an alternative disk defrag program.

Winodws 7 defrag — not smart enough.

                                         

Related posts:

• Windows 7 defrag in a corporate environment
• Windows 7 defrag -- real world, real guy
• Defrag for Windows  7 -- "Raxco Software has outdone itself again"

                                             

One way PerfectDisk stands out is its ability to defragment all system files (including all NTFS metadata). System files are the designation that PerfectDisk uses to identify important files that the operating system uses at runtime to operate your PC. These include the Windows paging file (pagefile.sys), the hibernation file used to support sleep mode on desktop Windows PCs (hiberfile.sys).                          
                                               
Depending on whether or not the drive is a system drive, or some other drive that PerfectDisk can’t lock, offline file defragmentation may or may not run on the drive(s). As long as PerfectDisk can lock a drive for exclusive access at runtime, it will defragment system files immediately. But for a Windows system disk or any other locked drive — one, for example, where a paging file might reside in a whole or in part — attempts to defragment system files at runtime will usually fail.

These files are then defragmented if the drive is not locked. Otherwise, this occurs at boot time. PerfectDisk locks the drive for its own exclusive use, so it can then defragment and move files the operating system would otherwise not allow to be altered. So, a boot time defrag is really only mandatory for drives that cannot be locked at run time.

                                             
Occassionally when you schedule a boot time defrag pass in PerfectDisk, it doesn’t work. This is because PerfectDisk is unable to lock the drives during boot time, so the system gets booted without the defrag pass getting executed. When this happens, it is almost always because a third-party program has modified the BootExecute registry key so that PDBoot.exe (the name of the PerfectDisk boot time defragmentation executable file) is no longer the first entry in its value string. This entry must occur first in that key for boot time defrag to run correctly. Another possibility is that a third-party software product has opened the drive for write access before PDBoot.exe can mount the drive for exclusive access. If the drive is open for write access, PerfectDisk will not run a boot time/offline defrag in order to avoid potential damage to or corruption of system files.

All system files…to complete the drive and boot quicker.

                                                

With all the buzz and positive reviews of Windows 7, one thing that hasn’t really changed are the limitations of the built-in defragmenter. And from a corporate perspective, the downside of the built-in is as stark as ever. I’ll look at a few of the limitations here.

                                           

The first major limitation of the Windows 7 defragmenter from a corporate perspective is the lack of centralized management and control. It’s simply not there, and for any enterprise wanting control over important issues, such as defragmentation, it won’t have it if it relies on the built-in Windows 7 defrag. No central configuring, no central scheduling, updating, managing and reporting. Whatever is happening or not happening, the IT manager and sytem admin won’t know about it until the distress call comes in from the field.

Typical of a corporate environment is the necessity to define groups for specific actions or rules. That won’t happen with the Windows 7 defragger unless you’ve got your sneakers on and make personal visits to the desktops. And all that work you did setting up Active Directory OUs? It won’t be applicable. You won’t have any information about fragmentation levels, free space levels, whether or not defragmentation is actually occurring or not. No warnings or alerts to let you know if a problem is looming. No easy troubleshooting from your management console to quickly access a remote system to address a problem. No enterprise statistics.

And if administrators want to give users the ability to defragment their own computers on their own? You’re going to need to give all those end users Administrator rights. Yikes. Yes, the Windows 7 defragmenter requires Administrator rights in order to run. Just about all the organizations we speak with say “no way” to that.

                                              


Another major limitation of the Windows 7 defragmenter is lack of flexible unattended operation. It doesn’t have much in the way of flexibility and background processing. It can be run manually, with the Admin restriction as noted above. Or, it can be run via very limited scheduling, and does not allow you the flexibility to control access to CPU or disk resources. The Windows 7 defragmenter has no ability to defragment only when the Winodws 7 screen saver is active or only when the system is idle - and these are some key features organizations typically are looking for. It comes automatically scheduled to run every Wednesday at 1:00 a.m.; however this may or may not ensure that defragmentation actually occurs. What if the computer is turned off at that time?

The fact that Microsoft put a defragmenter in Windows, including Windows 7, validates it recognizes the fragmentation problem it created with the file system, even as disks get larger. That does not mean they have a workable solution.

Get it right for your organization - and for your sanity.

                                      

Tom Spring's Sneaky Fees article in the December 2009 issue of PC World caught my attention. Spring looks into everything from shipping and handling fees to paper statement "fees" to extra fees to book airline tickets online. He notes that "wireless providers, cable companies and other firms are increasingly nickel-and-diming us to death."

The article states that "according to the Ponemon Institute, a research group specializing in consumer privacy, such sneaky fees cost each U.S. resident an estimated $950 every year. None are outlandish -- $1 here, $3.95 there. But they add up."

                               

When it comes to defragmentation utilities, some of what you can pay for is not so much sneaky, but can be considered nickel-and-diming. In today's world with new economic realities, most of the world's biggest brands have recognized that home consumers and businesses demand top value for what they pay. Like not paying extra to defrag larger disk drives. Like getting maximum flexibility to receive automatic background defrag or the ability to schedule defragmentation.

It's the philosophy we've taken here with PerfectDisk -- the world's most advanced disk defragmentation, including our patented SMARTPlacement optimization technology that reduces the rate at which fragmentation occurs -- at the best price. For businesses that can't put their organizations at risk with freeware, to home users who also won't risk their valuable data.

Not free, but no sneaky fees. True value, which has helped make 2009 a very successful one here at Raxco.

You can read the entire PC World article here.

Along with many of the world's leading brands, we recognize that top performance, quality and service can be provided at a reasonable price, without trying to stick it to users. 

                        

Here’s a little something on defragmenting with Windows 7 from a single user perspective. Greg Smith, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana,  is a full-time software engineer, and also is a part time audio engineer. He wrote the following to me:

“I mainly use my PC for software development and productivity, but occasionally I use it for live recordings of small concerts around the area.

"The computer is a self-built Intel Q9400 system with 4 GB RAM.  There are two hard drives installed – a Western Digital 320 GB drive as my system drive, and a Western Digital 640 GB drive for storage.  The system drive is partitioned for dual-booting.  The outermost partition (200 GB) is my software development partition, which is running Windows 7.  The innermost partition (100 GB) is my recording partition, which is running a stripped-down version of Vista x64.  The 640 GB storage drive is partitioned as one large partition.

"Since I use my Windows 7 installation 99% of the time, that’s the Windows installation on which PerfectDisk is installed.  It is configured for StealthPatrol on the Windows 7 partition and the Storage partition (I have the Vista partition set to manual).  All my programs are installed on the 200 GB Windows 7 partition, but my data is entirely on the 640 GB storage partition.  PerfectDisk keeps my program files and data perfectly optimized.  I don’t even have to think about defragmenting my drives anymore – I just always have outstanding disk performance.  This is especially important when recording, as the large audio files (sometimes several GB per track) can quickly become extremely fragmented.  I simply kick off a SmartPlacement defrag on the storage partition before AND after a recording session, and everything is perfectly optimized.”

                                                   

Greg also had a little to say about PerfectDisk support:

“Your support is simply amazing. If you have a problem, you are contacted within 24 hours, and often times within a few hours of your submission. The support staff are an absolute pleasure to work with - friendly, knowledgeable, competent, and above all — HELPFUL. Raxco has provided some of the best product support experiences I’ve ever had.”

The PerfectDisk 10 Enterprise Console has been updated to Build 127. This latest build provides enhanced support with a VIM plug-in to VMware vSphere Client 4.0  plus a few bug fixes.

The vSphere plug-in allows users to access the PerfectDisk 10 Enterprise Console directly from within the vSphere Client, providing a single point of management for their vSphere-based Windows guests. Using the PerfectDisk Enterprise Console plug-in, users can easily deploy, configure and schedule PerfectDisk, allowing for enhanced disk space management in vSphere environments, for vSphere defrag. 

You can “Check For Updates” under Help in the PerfectDisk console, or wait for Autoupdate.

Get news like this earlier — follow PerfectDisk on Twitter.

                               
 

                                                

I was recently invited to speak at a VMware User Group meeting about the impact of file and free space fragmentation in a virtual environment. Before I started the presentation I asked the audience how many had ever defragmented a physical server and about 30% raised their hand. Then I asked how many had ever defragmented a virtual server and about 10% raised their hand. This is a pretty typical response.

Systems administrators running virtual machines seem to overlook the fact that each virtual machine is running its own version of Windows Server and within that machine NTFS is busy fragmenting files and free space. While fragmentation is a performance-stealing problem on physical servers, the problem is compounded on virtual machines where each virtual instance is competing for a finite amount of resources. This leads to resource contention between Windows guests and, with Hyper-V, contention between the Windows guests and the host. It is essential to keep the files defragmented and the free space consolidated on Windows guests to maximize performance and minimize resource contention in a virtual world.

After my presentation one attendee told me his company was having performance issues with several of their virtual servers. They were looking at upgrading the hardware and bringing in a consultant. He knew these virtual machines were frequently updating files, the kind of activity that produces fragmentation, but he never thought of fragmentation as the problem. After sitting through my presentation he was convinced fragmentation was the culprit and we just saved them a lot of unnecessary expense. In complex technical environments it is easy to overlook the obvious when looking for a solution. Sometimes you just need to defrag a computer to get a lot more out of it, and that includes VM's.

                                                 

You get what you pay for. And sometimes paying nothing is good enough, sometimes it's not. If you're looking for defrag downloads, you can find some free stuff. That might be okay for you...but maybe not.

Writing in his Naples News Technobuddy column, Bill Husted writes often about free software programs that do a great job. Indeed, he writes that "one of the things I enjoy most with this column is recommending free programs that do a great job. From an early age I’ve been a great believer in the “if it’s free, it’s for me,” school of thought."

                                             

However, Husted goes on to write that "there are programs I do buy. That’s what we’ll talk about today, those rare programs so good that I’m willing to pay for them." As for the Windows built-in defragger, Husted says "it works OK. Perfect Disk 10 is better — so much better that I am willing to pay $40 for Perfect Disk 10 Professional." And the bottom line for Husted -- "my computer runs faster because of it." 

Most Windows defrag software, including the free stuff, won't defrag metadata completely. Won't defrag system files completely. Won't optimize your drives, won't do a good job of consolidating free space...won't do much more than basic defrag of files. A disk defragmentation tool can do a whole lot more, and benefit users a whole lot more.

The must-have computer programs -- read the entire article here.

Get more, do more.