The thought that everything will run according to plan has always been an attractive idea yet most people have come to accept that there will be unforeseen situations that crop up and force us to make changes to what were doing. More often than not these are small things that require minor adjustments but we all know there can be those unpredictable events that demand a complete overhaul of how things get done.
Businesses are forced to adjust to these types of occurrences on a daily basis. Whether it’s a printer that suddenly dies or a natural disaster that causes an office to shut down there are always going to be those scenarios that vary in severity yet demand a quick response.
Because it is impossible to predict the unpredictable the importance of taking care of the things that can be prevented become all the more important. This is why most companies take the necessary steps to safeguard their business against needless disasters.
One such disaster that a company can easily prevent is the crash of their computer network system. While avoiding a hurricane or averting a strike in another country that affects shipping is usually out of their hands the protection of their network is typically within their power.
In order to avoid such a crash it is imperative that companies understand what could cause such an event. Most people believe that these crashes occur due to an imported virus or some other outside source and so they keep their network up to date with anti-virus software thinking this will keep their system safe. The reality is there are more dangerous issues that a company faces and if they are neglected that crash will become inevitable.
An issue that every company should be aware of is fragmentation and its effects on their computer network system. Fragmentation often goes unchecked for the simple reason most people are unaware of computer disease. Unfortunately ignorance is not a defense and failure to treat this disease will result in a catastrophic crash.
Fragmentation is not something that is imported onto the hard drive but rather originates there and just like any other disease it will continue to get worse over time as it goes untreated.
The odd reality about fragmentation is that every unprotected hard drive is susceptible to the disease because of the hard drive’s design. This is because hard drives are manufactured to place space at a premium and this causes serious problems with the manner in which files are saved and stored.
A hard drive saves and stores these files in a contiguous order meaning each time we save a file it is placed directly behind the last file saved and so on. The serious problems begin to occur as we recall files and then make changes before resaving them. Because the original file was placed in a defined space the changed file will not fit and so the hard drive is forced to cut the excess information from the new file and place it in the next available space, thus creating a fragmented file. Because there is no limit to how many pieces a single file can be fragmented into the hard drive can quickly become littered by these files.
The direct effect on the hard drive is a slowdown in its operability. A company is likely to see its employees sitting motionless in front of their computers as they wait for the hard drive to deliver files that at one time appeared almost instantly. This slowdown, which may start as an inconvenience, will eventually slow to a crawl until the hard drive becomes so burdened that it crashes. This crash could result in the loss of all information that had been stored on the hard drive, a scenario no company would want to face.
There are plenty of signs that indicate a hard drive has become infested by fragmented files and almost all of these signs are related to the computer’s performance. If booting up the system is met with delays, browsing the Internet is sluggish, opening files and applications is taking a long time or if accessing and sending emails is difficult then chances are the hard drive needs to be addressed.
The solution to this problem requires nothing more than defragmentation software. By installing defrag on the computer network system a company can avoid these slowdowns and potential crashes that could seriously damage their business.
Once installed defragmentation software will scan the hard drive for fragmented files and repair the damage by joining together the pieces that belong to a single file. These files are saved in a single space, eliminating the hard drive’s need to go searching for pieces. This instantly improves the hard drive’s speed because it can quickly locate a request and deliver it to the screen.
As any company knows, the unpredictable problems are enough to deal with so when it comes to taking simple steps to avoid those events that could spell disaster it only makes sense to implement them.
