Is Defragmenting Useless Now?
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Defragmentation used to be a core maintenance task for improving file access speeds on mechanical hard drives, but modern storage technologies have shifted the relevance of this practice. The video explains that SSDs can access data regardless of physical contiguity, making manual defragmentation largely unnecessary and potentially harmful due to wear from write cycles. It then outlines how contemporary file systems reduce fragmentation by using extents,preallocated, contiguous blocks for each file,and how this helps both Windows NTFS and newer systems on macOS and Linux. The presenter also discusses the role of compression as a way to decrease fragmentation by increasing the density of stored data, though it notes the tradeoffs in CPU usage and potential fragmentation depending on data types and drive speed. For mechanical drives, the video highlights techniques like allocate-on-flush and the impact of file system features such as APFS and ext4 in managing fragmentation more efficiently. The segment concludes by acknowledging that while manual defragmentation is no longer necessary in most cases, there are still scenarios where periodic defragging on HDDs can be beneficial, and it reiterates that the decision should be based on the drive type and file system in use.
Topics · computer hardware · storage · operating systems
Questions answered
- Is defragmentation still necessary for modern hard drives and why?
- Defragmentation is generally unnecessary for SSDs and can be harmful due to wear on flash memory. For mechanical hard drives, it may still offer benefits in certain scenarios, but modern file systems use techniques like extents to minimize fragmentation automatically, reducing the need for manual defragmentation.
- What modern techniques help prevent fragmentation besides defragmentation?
- Modern file systems use preallocated contiguous blocks called extents, allocate on flush to keep data contiguous, and when possible, compression can reduce fragmentation by creating larger free spaces. These approaches, along with built in OS scheduling and auto-maintenance features, help keep fragmentation in check without manual defragging.