Computing technology has always striven for the “totally automatic.” It certainly wasn’t always so; just look at the level of technical skill it once took to simply operate a computer. The first systems took MIT grads to simply turn them on and get answers to equations. Down through the years, they became easier to operate and required less skill, until we finally reached the PC that anyone could run.
The goal of “fully automatic” could also be said for all the various factors that go into system administration. Except for putting the physical hardware there at a desk, a new user’s desktop can now be completely set up remotely. Network loads and traffic flows can be adjusted automatically. Entire servers (virtual) can be automatically set up and run. And now, finally, the defragmentation chore can be set up to run fully automatically, and pesky file fragmentation won’t bother anyone ever again.
But wait: if you think that claim is being made about low cost or free fragmentation solutions, think again. They must be scheduled, which means use of valuable IT hours. It also means that there are many times that defragmentation is not occurring, and performance-crippling fragmentation is continuing to impact company productivity.
There are many other drawbacks to such solutions as well, especially when compared to a state-of-the-art fully automatic solution. Some require 15 to 20 percent free space in order to defragment. Many only defragments files, instead of both files and free space. In many cases, only one instance of the built-in can be run at a time.
Additionally, some have no method of reporting on defrag results or even defrag status as they operate, leaving IT personnel in the dark. Some allow no defragmentation of system and metadata files, nor exclusion of any files from defrag. They are generally “one size fits all,” addressing all types of fragmentation and sizes of drives with one defrag method.
A true fully automatic solution requires no scheduling and is always addressing fragmentation invisibly, using only otherwise-idle resources so that there is never a negative performance impact—only the positive one. The automatic solution addresses both files and free space, and only requires 1 percent free space. It tackles drives and partitions simultaneously, instead of one at a time, and also positions frequently used files for faster access. The automatic solution fully reports on defrag status and results.
Today there is even technology for preventing a majority of fragmentation before it even occurs.
The entire point of technology, going all the way back to the origin of computing, is to decrease workload. Only the fully automatic fragmentation solution accomplishes that mandate. Make sure your fragmentation chores are addressed with the invisible background technology available today, actually lowering unnecessary IT tasks and increasing IT efficiency.
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