Diskeeper 12 adds TRIM, new interface and faster boot-ups

Computerworld - Condusiv (formerly Diskeeper) today announced a new version of its Diskeeper disk defragmentation software for Windows systems and applications that includes TRIM and a new feature to speed up system boots.

Condusiv said it added the new TRIM function as part of its HyperFast tool in deference to solid-state drives (SSDs), allowing the software to identify blocks of space marked for deletion so it can then free them up for use by an application.

While Windows 7 supports TRIM, earlier versions of the OS do not. Additionally, there are also times that Windows 7 is not successful in identifying available blocks for reuse, said Gary Quan, Condusiv's product strategist.

Diskeeper v12 also has a new, simplified user interface that allows you to drill-down for additional information but presents only the most necessary management features on the main user page.

The software's new HyperBoot feature places OS files required for booting up in more prominent places on a disk drive in order to increase performance.

"We're monitoring which files are accessed for boot-ups and then placing them in sequential order, so they can be read first and in order," Quan said.

Another feature of Diskeeper 12 is CogniSAN, which detects the use of external storage by servers, such as a SAN, and helps to optimize I/O so that functions such as backups are not impeded.

In addition, a new external space reclamation feature allows users to automatically or manually identify blocks marked for deletions and re-provision them for use. For example, volumes created by a thin provisioning algorithm or virtual storage system can be returned to a general pool of capacity.

Lastly, a new monitoring feature monitors system activity and provides reporting on key elements such as statistical data about system I/O usage, disk state, and Diskeeper effectiveness, providing users with a summary of the statistical data gathered for system performance monitoring purposes.

Diskeeper 12's new system monitoring feature.

"We've heard from a number of customers who say I'd like something that very straight forward tells me if I'm going to have a performance problem and where it is so I can go fix it," said Robert Woolery, Condusiv's senior vice president of product management.

One of Condusiv's most notable recent add-on feature is called IntelliWrite, which stops fragmentation by reordering Window's application data sequentially before it's written to a hard drive or SSD. Condusiv added IntelliWrite last year.

"Customers are telling us they're getting 50% better performance for applications," Quan said.

Lucas Mearian covers storage, disaster recovery and business continuity, financial services infrastructure and health care IT for Computerworld. Follow Lucas on Twitter at  @lucasmearian or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed . His e-mail address is lmearian@computerworld.com.

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