What is Disk Defragmentation and What Does it do?
Disk defragmentation is a process that optimizes the storage and retrieval of data on a hard drive. When you save a file, it gets split into several pieces and is stored in various locations on the drive. Over time, when you create, update, and delete files, your hard drive becomes fragmented as data becomes scattered. This fragmentation can lead to reduced system performance, slowing your computer.
Disk defragmentation comes to the rescue by rearranging these scattered data pieces and organizing them more cohesively. When the data is consolidated, it allows your computer or network to retrieve information efficiently, resulting in faster load times, quicker file access, and improved overall performance.
Why Your Company Needs Network Level Disk Defragmentation
Data fragmentation has long been one of the most pervasive and damaging long-term PC problems. Over time, information stored on the computer becomes increasingly divided as PCs aim to store programs and applications in smaller morsels. While that function may help on the storage end, it can severely curtail PC performance, as the device struggles to locate all of widely distributed pieces of information and reconstruct them into the file the user is opening. Without a regular disk defrag, data dispersal can make opening even small-sized files difficult. Many business users deal with this problem every day, wondering why their systems take so long to boot up before anything is even opened or a word document takes so long to load when it’s such a tiny file.
In recent years, data needs have exploded in the business world. As businesses become more reliant on big data for operational infrastructure, information storage and disaster recovery plans, requisites even for smaller companies have changed substantially. What hasn’t changed is the fact that without organization, data can and does become stratified, making the whole system slower. Although many computing solutions boast of their ability to keep data organized, without intervention on the business’ end, it’s likely that they’ll end up experiencing a macro version of the micro-problem they already have – fragmentation of important data. ComputerWeekly contributor Tony Lock recently wrote about the significant consequences that passive or nonexistent data management methodologies can have on business operations.
“The issue is that very few organizations have policies in place covering what data can and cannot be moved to such systems nor how the data stored on them should be secured and protected,” he wrote. “But without any guidance on where data can be held and how it should be secured, organizations are exposing themselves to significant potential risks from data fragmentation. The risks are easy to understand, given public concerns around data privacy, disquiet about which has been growing for some time and which recent press coverage has undoubtedly heightened.”
Making PC Fixes Company-wide Solutions
Ultimately, network speed is only as fast as its slowest touchpoint. Linked computers, servers and other devices give rise to a need for solutions that can be deployed across the organization. This is true even for small businesses with just a few computers where near limitless data can still be streaming in and out from numerous sources every day. Like a business user who needs access to an important document at a critical moment, a company needs to be able to locate its information easily and have it work in real time, according to ITProPortal contributor Desire Athow.
“Data fragmentation makes finding and accessing the right information at the right time difficult or impossible,” Athow wrote. “This, in turn, hampers business management and decision-making.”
Your hard drive performs faster when extraneous movement is eliminated. The PC performance solution System Mechanic uses proprietary technology to not only defragment data files, but also realign related program files with each other for the very fastest access. System Mechanic can and should be deployed on computers organization-wide to manage PC systems and ensure that disk drives are defragmented and ready for the challenges of next-generation digital computing.
