Server Maintenance

traddots_2

Is there anything non skilled office folk should be doing to keep a server clean and squeaky? I used to defrag and disc clean the PCs regularly but the company who installed the server said it was best not to do this to the server. Personally don't believe all I'm told by them but wouldn't interfere without some basis for doing so. Any suggestions?

spudgun81

Hi traddots,

As a general rule, do not defrag a server. if it's running databases, (and it probably is) there is a high chance that you will corrupt those databases.

In laymans terms, the reason for this is that defrag moves files to make them neat on the hard disk but the database already knows where the files are - it's a bit like coming home to find that your other half has tidied up all your stuff, you will never find anything again.

Best thing you can do is house keeping - delete stuff you no longer need.

Thanks

Spudgun

John_Gray

spudgun81 wrote: »

As a general rule, do not defrag a server. if it's running databases, (and it probably is) there is a high chance that you will corrupt those databases.

In laymans terms, the reason for this is that defrag moves files to make them neat on the hard disk but the database already knows where the files are - it's a bit like coming home to find that your other half has tidied up all your stuff, you will never find anything again.

Sorry, but this is entirely incorrect. Since a database is (very probably) open, it wouldn't get moved. If it is closed, then there's no problem with moving it - it's just another file, admittedly probably a big one.

The idea of the file system not knowing where the files are is also mythology. If that was the case, you'd be in what I call "P45 mode", a recovery situation.

If it's a server it may not be worth defragmenting it manually; if it's WS2008 it will be doing defrags itself, in the background.