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Who needs a network defragmenter?
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IDC recommends deploying defragmentation software on Windows desktops and servers to avoid lengthy waits for file access, reboots lasting an eternity, hours added to backups and even corruption of data. Granted, you can't always link system slowdowns to fragmented disk drives. There could be a slow processor, not enough memory or even an old device driver. But where I/O pace or back-up speed has grown more sluggish over time, fragmentation is the likely culprit. For instance, United Parcel Service (UPS) deploys Executive Software's Diskeeper across a network that spans hundreds of servers. "Defragmentation makes data access much faster and prevents degradation of system performance," says David Zhao, product manager in the UPS distributed systems services division in Atlanta, responsible for Windows NT design and infrastructure. "Before, it was hard to tell between a network slowdown and a problem caused by poor server disk performance. As defragmentation removes disk performance slowdowns from the equation, network troubleshooting is much easier," Zhao says. Some argue that you don't need to worry about defragmentation when you have file-based cache that bypasses disk access on commonly used files. "Since memory access is at least 100 times faster than disk access, caching can significantly reduce disk I/O traffic and mitigate or possibly eliminate the second-order effects of file fragmentation," says Keith Walls, chief architect for InSoft Limited, a Hudson, N.H., consulting and development firm. However, the National Software Testing Lab, a software performance testing firm in Conshohocken, Pa., found that even with caching, slowdowns from disk fragmentation were far from eliminated. During testing of workstations and servers equipped with 128M bytes of memory, both performed significantly better after defragmentation.
While the benefits enjoyed by Lucent may be substantial, according to IDC the total amount lost due to fragmentation is staggering. Analysts tallied up Ôhard money' losses stemming from lowered productivity, help desk calls, increased IT staff costs and unnecessary hardware upgrades. When factored against the estimated 19.6 million worldwide corporate licenses Microsoft shipped between 1997 and 1999, the total comes to more than $50 billion per year. Put another way, defragmentation can cut total cost of ownership by $350 per year per desktop.
"Desktop TCO will be dramatically lowered when a network defragmenter is implemented," IDC's Widen says.
The difference between a lite version and a fully network-capable tool.
Network World, 09/18/00. Save billions with defrag
Companies and e-businesses that have been meeting the growing demand for network performance by purchasing newer and faster hardware could save billions of dollars on unnecessary hardware upgrades.
InfoWorld, 07/07/00. Defragmenting helps disk performance
Tech Update: Fragmented files are the dark side of random access storage.
Network World, 10/04/99. Newsletter: Free defragger
Network World, 12/09/98.
Disk Delay
Routine, remote disk defragmentation can save big bucks, help delay hardware upgrades.
 
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Who needs a network defragmenter?
Archive of Network World reviews
Subscribe to the Servers e-mail newsletter
IDC recommends deploying defragmentation software on Windows desktops and servers to avoid lengthy waits for file access, reboots lasting an eternity, hours added to backups and even corruption of data. Granted, you can't always link system slowdowns to fragmented disk drives. There could be a slow processor, not enough memory or even an old device driver. But where I/O pace or back-up speed has grown more sluggish over time, fragmentation is the likely culprit. For instance, United Parcel Service (UPS) deploys Executive Software's Diskeeper across a network that spans hundreds of servers. "Defragmentation makes data access much faster and prevents degradation of system performance," says David Zhao, product manager in the UPS distributed systems services division in Atlanta, responsible for Windows NT design and infrastructure. "Before, it was hard to tell between a network slowdown and a problem caused by poor server disk performance. As defragmentation removes disk performance slowdowns from the equation, network troubleshooting is much easier," Zhao says. Some argue that you don't need to worry about defragmentation when you have file-based cache that bypasses disk access on commonly used files. "Since memory access is at least 100 times faster than disk access, caching can significantly reduce disk I/O traffic and mitigate or possibly eliminate the second-order effects of file fragmentation," says Keith Walls, chief architect for InSoft Limited, a Hudson, N.H., consulting and development firm. However, the National Software Testing Lab, a software performance testing firm in Conshohocken, Pa., found that even with caching, slowdowns from disk fragmentation were far from eliminated. During testing of workstations and servers equipped with 128M bytes of memory, both performed significantly better after defragmentation.
Throw hardware at the problem
Many network administrators consider regular system upgrades and hardware innovation sufficient to maximize network performance. "Hardware development is managing to stay one step ahead of storage demands," says Simon Perry, vice president of security solutions at Computer Associates. "As most corporations change hardware every two or three years, they are largely unconcerned about fragmentation." He notes that defragmentation technology has achieved only a 10% to 15% penetration into the corporate NT market so far, and that it lacks a compelling event such as the Melissa virus to make it a topic of discussion at the boardroom level. Despite that, sales have been rising steadily in recent years. According to Reston, Va., marketing firm PC Data, U.S. corporations purchase close to one million defragmenter licenses each year. If sales continue to thrive, they could approach 50% enterprise desktop penetration within five years. This growth is being driven largely by word of mouth. "NT fragments noticeably within a short period," says Bob Lofaso, Lucent's IT manager. "We experience a 15% to 20% performance gain on both servers and workstations by defragmenting our systems daily."
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The hassle factor
Despite these arguments, some wonder if defragmentation is worth the hassle. IDC analysts found that going from box to box to manually run defragmentation is impractical and cost-ineffective. For example, on a 5,000-workstation, 25-server network, total staff costs would run as high as $10 million if performed manually. When conducted remotely, however, IT costs fell to less than $1,000 per year. Even when licensing fees are factored in, the cost of maintaining a fragment-free network comes to around $90,000 per year. That pales in comparison to the amount saved. As well as difficult-to-measure items such as increased user productivity, analysts put together a strong case built around deploying defragmentation software as a means of postponing or eliminating unnecessary hardware upgrades. "Network defragmenters can save corporations $6 billion per year by preventing unnecessary hardware upgrades," Widen says. "Defragmenters are rising sharply in popularity as people realize they can often deliver comparable performance gains to hardware upgrades at a fraction of the cost." Of course, there are many reasons companies will continue to need new and upgraded computers. It's unlikely that even the wild adoption of network defragmenting will greatly affect the $311.5 billion spent annually on computer hardware. But as network managers become more aware of just how much of their performance and their budget can be recovered by keeping files consolidated, many more firms are likely to adopt networkwide defragmentation. Related linksRobb is a freelance writer in Los Angeles, specializing in technology issues. He can be reached at drewrobb@mediaone.net.
Who needs a network defragmenter?The difference between a lite version and a fully network-capable tool.
Network World, 09/18/00. Save billions with defrag
Companies and e-businesses that have been meeting the growing demand for network performance by purchasing newer and faster hardware could save billions of dollars on unnecessary hardware upgrades.
InfoWorld, 07/07/00. Defragmenting helps disk performance
Tech Update: Fragmented files are the dark side of random access storage.
Network World, 10/04/99. Newsletter: Free defragger
Network World, 12/09/98.
