Raxco Software Takes Issue with Premise Of National Software Testing Laboratory Test of Optimized Defragmentation Utilities.

GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 1999--

Software engineering company says testing optimized defragmenters

For file access speed is a "false premise," and asserts that

performance Of subsequent defragmentation runs is more meaningful

Raxco Software today took issue with the premise of a white paper covering disk defragmentation technology issued last week by National Software Testing Laboratories (NSTL). In the white paper, NSTL concluded that disk optimization done during disk defragmentation runs does not improve performance.

"Raxco believes the NSTL tested a false premise," said Jim Williams, Raxco product manager. "The test measured the effect of disk optimization on file access times. Optimization is not designed to reduce file access time. Its real goal is to reduce the amount of time and system resources it takes to make subsequent defragmentation runs. A more meaningful test of optimization would determine to what extent optimized defragmenters shortened subsequent defragmentation runs, compared to defragmenters that do not optimize," Williams said.

Williams noted that shortening the time of defragmentation runs is important in environments with large servers. "Defragmentation ties up system resources, which means they are not available to users," he said. "Optimization reduces the number of files that have to be moved during a defragmentation run. This shortens the run and keeps resources available for users."

Disk files become fragmented in the course of normal computer use. As a file is modified, parts of it are placed wherever space is available on a disk. When the file is used again, the file system has to search throughout the disk to find the parts. This takes more time than it would if all the file's components were contiguous, and therefore slows disk performance and makes applications take longer to execute.

All defragmenters reunite the scattered file parts back into contiguous files. They, in effect, increase disk performance and generally make applications run faster.

Optimizing is a process by which the newly defragmented files are relocated on the disk according to the likelihood of their being used again. Not all defragmenters can optimize. The ones that do need to move only the files that were used since the last defragmentation run. The ones that don't must rearrange virtually all the files on the disk. This takes longer than optimized defragmenters take, and uses system resources that otherwise could be used for running applications.

About Raxco Software

Raxco Software makes the PerfectDisk 2000 defragmentation utility for Microsoft operating systems. It is a 20-year-old software engineering company that specializes in system utilities. Its PerfectDisk 2000 is the only optimized defragmenter that works on Microsoft Windows NT, Windows 2000 RC2, and Windows 98/95 operating systems. Raxco also makes suites of utilities for Windows NT and Compaq Computer's OpenVMS operating system.

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