File system fragmentation: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:07, 14 December 2006

Revision as of 04:36, 14 December 2006

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In computing, '''[[file system]] [[fragmentation (computer)|fragmentation]]''', sometimes called '''file system aging''' is the inability of a file system to lay out related data sequentially (contiguously), an inherent phenomena in [[computer storage|storage]]-backed file systems that allow in-place modification of their contents. It is a special case of [[fragmentation (computer)#Data fragmentation|data fragmentation]].

File system fragmentation is projected to become more problematic with time, due to the increasing gapdisparity betweenof sequential access speed and [[seek time]], coupled with [[rotational latency]], of consumer-grade [[hard disk]]s, which file systems are usually placed on.<ref name=seagate-future>{{cite conference |author=Dr. Mark H. Kryder |publisher=[[Seagate Technology]] |date=2006-04-03 |title=Future Storage Technologies: A Look Beyond the Horizon |booktitle=Storage Networking World conference |url=http://www.snwusa.com/documents/presentations-s06/MarkKryder.pdf |accessdate=2006-12-14 }}</ref>

File system fragmentation may occur on several levels:

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* The decrease of [[locality of reference]] between separate, but related files.

* Free space fragmentation, making it increasingly difficult to lay out new files contiguously.

==File fragmentation==

Individual file fragmentation occurs when a single file has been broken into multiple pieces (called [[extent]]s on extent-based file systems). While disk file systems attempt to keep individual files contiguous, this is not often possible.

==See also==

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==References==

<references />

* {{cite paper |author=Keith Arnold Smith |date=2001-01 |title=Workload-Specific File System Benchmarks |publisher=[[Harvard University]] |url=http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/vino/fs-perf/papers/keith_a_smith_thesis.pdf |accessdate=2006-12-14 }}

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