Server Solutions

The NTFS file system is the heart of the Windows O/S and its performance is directly related to system reliability. However, NTFS writes files to the disk in scattered pieces, even if the disk is almost empty. This immediately multiplies the amount of I/Os it takes to complete a task and quickly creates a decline in even the newest and most advanced systems.

Slows, crashes and frequent downtime impact productivity and the effects are felt throughout the company.

File server performance optimization achieves two important objectives: minimizing downtime and increasing speed and efficiency of applications. High traffic, typical of most servers, will bring about a loss of performance quickly when a server has an underlying NTFS performance issue. The problem is that system management and monitoring tools may only narrow the cause down to a range of possibilities. Possible solutions often do not state file fragmentation of NTFS files, because the effects of fragmentation are commonly underestimated.

Learn more about Diskeeper for faster file server performance »

How should I optimize my File Server performance?

File fragmentation is often the "straw that broke the camel’s back" when noting issues of stability or reliability. Stressed I/O activity, compounded by fragmentation, can expose faulty device drivers or file filters that may otherwise operate effectively (in non-fragmented environments). The reliability of third-party applications is highly dependent on the degree to which those applications can accommodate bottlenecks, such as in disk subsystems.

System administrators have tested Diskeeper^® data performance software and found the resulting file server performance to be so consistently maintained at peak levels that major system and network problems disappear. V-locity^® VM accelerator does the same with VMs. In two cases a SQL administrator discovered the Average Disk Sec/Read was very high on their database servers.

Per a Microsoft Knowledgebase article any disk read longer that 50ms represents a serious bottleneck. The admins found 200ms and 300ms delays – well into the serious end of the scale. The Knowledgebase article suggested possible solutions but the one not explicitly stated was to defragment. Both administrators ran Diskeeper and quickly increased the read speed to 15 and 30ms. A tremendous improvement in performance!

A clue that you should evaluate file I/O optimization is when you read or hear a recommendation to increase I/O bandwidth, such as adding more disks. Example: your SAN vendor tells you to add another controller or array. If there is substantial file fragmentation, Diskeeper will typically provide better results, as it actually fixes the issue and prevents it from happening again rather than masking it – and it’s a whole lot cheaper.

"Prior to installing Diskeeper some of our lengthy batch process jobs would often fail at the end of the job with a ‘Delayed Write Fail’ message. I have not seen that message EVER again once I installed Diskeeper on the file server hosting that volume and that was over three years ago."

– Damon Young, System Administrator,
Xceed Financial

Download a free trial of Diskeeper Server or V-locity to increase file server performance today »