Server Solutions
Cluster Server – Server Cluster Performance
The whole idea behind a server cluster is to provide consistent and reliable software
and server based resource access to users even when a failure occurs. Server clusters
are designed for applications that have long-running
in-memory states or frequently updated data such as file servers, print
servers, database servers and others.
All servers in
the cluster experience the NTFS action of writing data in pieces to the disk and
thus increasing, exponentially, the amount of I/Os it takes to complete a task.
Even virtualized servers and virtual machines integrated into server clusters face
this same file fragmentation issue generated at the NTFS file system level.
When organizing servers into a fail-over system, best practice would dictate also
increasing the reliability and efficiency of each system at the same time. The result
would build a strong foundation of uptime. To do this, it is imperative that file fragmentation
be handled.
Read about the Impact of Disk Fragmentation on Servers »
How do I Improve Cluster Server uptime and efficiency?
The first thing to realize is that resource waste begins right at the O/S level
when files are written in fragments to the disk. Because this is at the rock-bottom
level of the IT stack, the repercussions can be wide ranging and hard to source.
Many IT managers consider things like declining system response and rapidly filling
disk space to be part of the cost of doing business. But if file fragmentation is
corrected or prevented before it can happen, many system issues disappear and storage
space is used more effectively.
Server clusters are commonly virtualized. Virtual Machines running on Windows NTFS
file systems inherit all the fragmentation of a logical drive on a physical disk.
Some administrators mistakenly think fragmentation is no longer an issue, but the
truth is a fragmented NTFS creates millions of unnecessary I/Os and affects the
efficiency and speed of every system it touches.
Diskeeper® data performance software prevents
most of the writing of files in pieces to the disk and does so invisibly. What little
gets by is instantly optimized before it can affect productivity or cause a proliferation
of unnecessary I/Os. V-locity® VM accelerator
does the same with VMs. Both solutions are highly
resource aware and ensure optimization activity never creates resource conflicts.
“I finished the installation of Diskeeper today on our SAN clustered servers. We
started at 40% fragmentation on our E drive and 43% fragmentation on our F drive.
In a few hours we are now at 0% for both. We have had such performance issues lately
and I’m sure we will notice the difference. I am absolutely amazed at how easy Diskeeper
was to install and configure.”
- Dawn Michelle, Partners HealthCare - Brigham & Women's Hospital
Download a free trial of Diskeeper Server or V-locity
to improve server cluster uptime and efficiency »