Fragmentation Main Culprit Behind Computer Network Slowdown
There’s an old proverb that states “The early bird catches the worm,” in essence meaning those who concentrate on preparation and then follow through with action will be rewarded in the end. This philosophy is adopted by most successful companies, those who take the time to understand the importance of not only knowing their business but in addition, what could potentially damage their business.
While many may think this preparation is tied to recognizing trends and developing new markets the reality is that concentrating on sustaining the integrity of a company’s infrastructure is just as important, if not more. This is due in large part to the fact if you don’t have a solid foundation you’ll never be able to build a strong business. Because most companies place the bulk of their reliance on their computer network system this means ensuring the continued health of their computers.
The benefit of any computer network system lies in its ability to handle a multitude of tasks in an incredibly short period of time. By handling all of these jobs, from internal messaging and external communication to inventory control and e-commerce sales, a computer network probably ranks as the most important component of day-to-day operations for any company. When that network begins to slow the affects on a company’s business can suffer tremendously.
Fortunately for companies there are actions that can be taken to prevent such a slowdown in daily affairs. The key to preventing this slowdown is in understanding what causes it in the first place.
Fragmentation is the main culprit behind a computer network slowdown. This computer disease will not only cause problems with speed but, if left untreated, will eventually cause a crash that could devastate any company’s business.
The problems posed by fragmentation originate on the networks hard drive which is designed to store saved files in a contiguous manner. This means that any time a file is saved it is stored directly behind the last file saved and so on. Over time this method proves problematic because it isn’t conducive to modifying files.
When an existing file is modified and saved it will no longer fit in its original space so the hard drive is forced to cut the excess information and store it in the next available space, this is now a fragmented file. Because there is no limit to how many times a single file can be fragmented it isn’t uncommon for a file to be split into thousands of pieces. As a result, when you try to recall that file it takes the hard drive a long time to find all the fragmented pieces and your left waiting.
If something isn’t done to stop the process of fragmentation the hard drive will continue to slow until it can no longer operate and it crashes. This is the worst case scenario for any company as it will cripple business and likely result in the loss of data. Companies know that gaining customers and clients is difficult but once they are lost it is nearly impossible to win them back.
It is because of this fact that implementing precautionary measures to prevent fragmentation makes business sense.
That preventative measure comes in the form of defragmentation software. By installing defrag on the network’s hard drive a company can be assured that their computers will continue to operate at full speed and avoid the likelihood of a crash.
Defragmentation scans the hard drive and finds the files that have been fragmented, repairs those files, and saves them as a single unit. This simple act frees the hard drive from searching for all the pieces each time a file is requested thus making its response time much faster.
The great thing about defragmentation software is that it continues to work once it’s installed. Defrag will constantly monitor the hard drive to ensure files don’t become fragmented and when an existing file is modified defragmentation software will provide the means for the hard drive to keep the file together.
Companies that are serious about maintaining their business and protecting their computer network should certainly take the simple precaution of installing defragmentation software.
