The following changes are included in the new Diskeeper Administrator 2009 incremental. Most are changes to address either tech support issues (bugs or otherwise) or internally found errors. Like the Diskeeper "defragmenter editions", the update will be released in all supported languages over the next couple of weeks.

1. The SCOM Management Pack is available (like the MOM Management Pack, this ships with Administrator edition)
2. Boot-time defragmentation UI is now enabled with remote connection
3. Fix to Check for Updates for 64-bit builds
4. Added structure size validation to prevent crashes when older builds of Diskeeper send incompatible data
4. Fixed a problem with two policies associated with one group
5. AD Security Groups are now correctly filtered out
6. Fix to avoid service start and stop delay when DB is not configured
7. Fix to permissions sometimes (rare) not working when FQDN is used
8. Minor fix (rare issue) to adding machines into custom groups
9. Fix to PushInstall feature to better handle the following scenarios
-X64 machines when WMI is blocked
-Name resolution service not enabled
-Security enhancements in Vista SP1 and Windows 2008
10. Fixed text in the License Usage Report which incorrectly stated that data can be sorted.
11. Various fixes to entering permissions, specifically to handle names with *.* correctly.

Enough dry blogs now behind me, I thought I'd entertain a more informal post.

Can data centralization create euphoria?

If Philip K. Dick can ask if androids dream of electric sheep I feel I'm entitled, right or wrong, to ask the above question - well at least on this blog anyways.

I mentioned in some previous blogs that I've been using Windows Home Server (WHS) for about a year and a half now. My WHS system has allowed me to centralize all my family photos, music, videos, documents, etc... It was a time consuming process and involved a great deal of data discovery and de-duplication. Fortunately I have access to some internally developed tools that helped streamline the effort. All said and done, data centralized and all backed up, I'm definitely, in the words of Mike Tyson, "ekthtatic" about the results.

So this is how a SAN admin feels. Sweeeeeet.

After that enduring adventure (probably a hundred hours or so), I needed some time away from WHS to simply enjoy it's simplicity and focused purpose. A techie's "tinker-free" vacation of sorts.

I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. - Edgar Allen Poe...

But as time heals all wounds, by about early January I decided it would be a nifty idea to rip my entire DVD collection to my WHS box, so I could stream them to a Media Center PC (currently running Windows 7) that sits under the family room TV. Once done (hundreds of hours of effort), I could comfortably flip a few buttons on one of those 256-in-one remotes from the comfort of my couch and view any DVD of choice without having to get up.

Such is the rationale of the lazy.

But I did have a higher purpose in my madness. I consider myself a decisive person; apparently just not when it comes to picking out a movie. Typically I stand staring, like a deer-in-headlights, at my DVD collection (a respectable 500+) for a good 10-20 minutes in deadlocked self-debate before making my final decision, simultaneously driving my wife nuts. This detailed qualification process (or so I like to explain to her as she rolls her eyes and calls out "JUST PICK ONE ALREADY") is also likely a key contributor to why I like to joke that 'she has seen the first half of every DVD we own' (she nods off on the coach about 30 minutes in to ANY AND EVERY movie). It's almost like clockwork. Anyway I felt I had enough motivation to undertake this new project. The wife might actually be able to see how all these wonderful stories end (or at least 10 more minutes of them). That is all based, of course, on the likely faulty assumption that I won't simply exchange this quarter hour of upright idleness for supinely flipping through my Media Center's DVD catalog.

Project "Illogical-use-of-time-to-save-time" is a GO!

I initially added two 1.5TB Seagate Barracuda drives to increase the space needed to accommodate DVDs ripped as TS_Video files (approx 4-5 GB per DVD). I figured this storage capacity (another 3TB) could get me most of the way through the project, and the price and capacity of HDDs may drop by the time I get around to completing the project, given each DVD rip takes 30-45 minutes to backup to disk. I'd also read about other such adventures in forums where fellow propellerheads took a year+ to finish. But hey, for those technical-consequentialists, the end will justify the means... right?

I also decided to make an experiment out of the process. I turned Diskeeper off for several months as I backed up my movie collection.

I'm now about 400 DVDs into the project. While I've purchased a couple more of those same drives, I have yet to add them to WHS'es storage pool. Using the handy WHS Disk Management add-on I'm able to see that my system drive is 98% full and I'm at 98% and 99% capacity on the storage drives, with only about 20GB of total free space left on D:\. All part of the experiment mind you.

While I successfully tested this setup early on, I was waiting until completion to make it live and get my wife up to speed on navigating this multi-function super-remote, which by the way, seems is just one newfangled feature shy of operating some future bluetooth-enabled toaster. But, a defrag analysis from the currently disabled Diskeeper got the best of me.

2.5 million fragments!!! - simply "mind bottling".

I reviewed the "Most Fragmented Files" list and found it populated almost exclusively by DVD data files. I then proceeded to attempt to watch these movies, the files of which were in thousands of pieces (some in tens of thousands).

Now, I use only 802.11G WiFi, but this was more than adequate to stream movies from WHS to the Media Center PC in previous pilot tests. However, when trying to watch these horribly fragmented movie files I was presented a choppy mess by Media Center. The video paused sporadically and frequently, as did the sound. It was entirely, and unacceptably unwatchable.

So the next step was to put Diskeeper to the task. I re-enabled Automatic Defragmentation and returned to the WHS box a couple of days later to find that Diskeeper had removed all but a small handful of fragments (about 500 excess fragments remained -on WHS related files nonetheless). I went back to re-watch those movies that had been previously so stop-and-go and VIOLA! (unless you're French, in which case you are able to correctly proclaim enthusiasm) we have viewable content again!

So I have another 100 or so DVDs and thousands of pre-digital era photos to digitize (I've learned my lesson and will send these off to a scanning service) to add to my WHS box. All told, I expect to surpass 3.5 million fragments eliminated by the end of 2009. Millions of fragments on a home computer, who da thunk it?

Check out the new study done by IT guru David Chernicoff on the "Impact of Fragmentation on Servers" here.

It is also posted on SlideShare here.

Testing was done on various server-based applications such as file hosting, SQL, Exchange, virtual machines, and more, with performance increases in the range of 30%+.

If you're a Server Admin or an IT consultant /VAR for a company, this paper can really help you make a solid case for getting Diskeeper into use on the company/client servers. The "bang for buck" is hard to beat.

If you subscribe to the Windows IT Pro mag, keep an eye out for the May issue which will have an insert with this paper. And, if you are heading to Tech Ed next month (in Los Angeles), you'll get a free copy of the mag with your "attendee kit". We'll be there as well, so stop by our booth.

Below is a list of what's new in the latest Diskeeper update. We'll be rolling out this update (you'll be notified from the Check For Updates feature in Diskeeper) over the next couple of weeks, starting with the English language updates first. Shortly thereafter you'll be able to get the update in all other languages currently supported: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Simplified and Traditional Chinese.

Features:
1. Added support for management via SCOM 2007.
2. Added code to synchronize access to WMI data structures between multiple threads.
3. Updated content and existing functionality in the Diskeeper Group Policy template file.
4. Added a selection to enable/disable Operations Manager event logging through Group Policy.
5. Added support for the new ADMX Group Policy template format.
6. The "Before and After Performance Report" previously included only in trialware is now available in the full product.

Fixes:
7. Fixed a problem with uninstalling Diskeeper Service through Group Policy.
8. Corrected several minor problems/inconsistencies with the Performance Report:
a. Use low performing file size rather than just the number of files to show as percentage in the graph to make it visually consistent with the Volume Map File Performance View.
b. Replace the Fragmentation Percentage data with Percentage of low performing files (analogous change was made to the Job Report).
c. Disabled the Trialware Expired report selection when there is not enough data for this report so that no empty report is displayed.
d. Corrected low performing directories data.
9. Fixed a problem with low performing files data reported by manual defragmentation.
10. Fixed a bug in the Job Report where inconsistent data was displayed between the Findings and Recommendations and the Health sections.
11. Included Most Fragmented Files data in the Job Report window rather than in a separate pop-up.
12. Minor corrections for Diskeeper service in certain rare environments.
13. Minor corrections to the File Exclusions feature.
14. Made the delay at the end of the boot-time engine processing adjustable through a registry key.
15. Fixed a UI bug on the Boot-time Defragmentation page by moving the "Run boot-time defragmentation even if this volume it being used…" selection under the "scheduled reboot" radio option in the upper section.
16. Fixed a display problem with Trialware where under certain circumstances a large number of days to expiration would be displayed.
17. Fixed an error when adding a higher (incorrect) version license file to the product by adding validation code.
18. Fixed error where when Diskeeper push installed through DK Admin displays an error "Unable to retrieve license data". This could also cause numerous trialware roll-up notification windows at the same time.
19. Fixes to the Trialware roll-up tray interaction; Corrected mouse-over text , Fixed the launch Diskeeper UI , context menu action
20. Fixed inconsistent expiration data in the Trialware Expired Performance Report where the expiration date and the number of days since expiration would be inconsistent.
21. Diskeeper will now correctly use the default Web browser when checking for updates.

Note that Diskeeper Server now also adds support for Windows Server 2003/2008 Datacenter (contact your sales rep for this build).

 

UPDATE: June 22, 2009: The build that was officially released was 13.0.844, which included all the above fixes. The 842 build was a Tech Support/Field Test build and had a limited release. I've updated the post title to reflect this as the 13.0.844 change log.

If you've ever stopped by a Diskeeper booth at a trade show in the past few years, you may have seen our clear-case PCs.

Inside those clear case PCs we have WD Raptor X drives with a see-through cover. That clear cover allows you to watch the disk head moving across the platter.

When you defragment one drive and leave one fragmented, it makes for an interesting visual side-by-side comparison. That's a test we videoed and posted on YouTube.

Defragmented drives, mean less wear and tear over the life of the drive so it lives longer. It also means less energy used to power and cool the PC.

We're looking for some current Diskeeper customers that are interested in getting a first look at a new technology for Microsoft's Hyper-V platform. Testing will start in a few weeks and we have a few openings left that we need to fill.

If you are using Hyper-V and are interested and able to test on it, simply fill-out a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) located here.

Fax the signed NDA to:
Fax: 818-252-5514

Please add the following to the Fax cover page:
Attn: Field Test Administrator/Hyper-V Field Test

Alternatively you can email the signed NDA (scan in the pages with your signature) to our Field Test administrator. Please add "Hyper-V Field Test" in the subject line.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus is reporting a false alarm (known as a False Positive in software security terminology) on Diskeeper downloads as of late yesterday. If you tried to download our software (Diskeeper) from our website, it triggered a "Trojan" alert in Kaspersky.

The issue was reported to Kaspersky yesterday and they verified Diskeeper was clean (no viruses) and rapidly released and update to their software to correct this. By early this morning they reported that the problem has been fixed and that customers should update their Kaspersky AV software.

Our QA team has verified this fix works, but recommend users of Kaspersky AV reboot their systems after updating and prior to downloading Diskeeper. If you do not reboot, you won't get that "Alert" message, but we found that you will still get a "Warning" about the Diskeeper download, so please reboot if possible.

Thanks to the team at Kaspersky for such a quick turnaround!

We're planning to release Undelete HomeServer edition in mid to late April. It will be specifically made for the Windows Home Server (WHS) operating system.

The price will probably be around $59 and include an Undelete license for WHS and also 10 Undelete Desktop Client licenses for your home-network PCs/laptops. Installing the Desktop Client on PCs provides you connectivity to the Undelete product on the Home Server so you can view and recover files remotely.

I've been using Undelete on my WHS system for over a year (the standard Undelete Server product works on WHS but is too pricey for home use at $499). To release the product for WHS we need to offer a better installation, documentation, and make minor adjustments to a few features.

You can read a review about using Undelete on WHS here.

As of last Friday, Diskeeper Corporation is now on Twitter - http://twitter.com/diskeeper

This will be a good place to hear about new events (releases, etc...).

It's being run by our Channel Managers so the focus will be on activities, information, and opportunities for VARs, MSPs, partners, distributors, and resellers in general.

Another Diskeeper Corporation Twitter account will promote special offers:

http://twitter.com/DiskeeperOffers

We are looking for Mac users (OS X - Tiger and Leopard) who would like to participate in a short data gathering field test. We have an analysis tool that gathers data about fragmentation on the system and reports this data back to Diskeeper Corporation. (It does not send any other data from your computer).

The analysis tool has an easy to use GUI which also provides reports to you about the data collected.

There is NO limit on the number of participants. The more data we collect the more this study will help us, so please fee free to spread the word to other fellow Mac users.

This study will, however, only last for a short time, so please act fast.

To sign up for this test, simply fill-out a Non-Disclosure Agreement located here.

Fax the signed NDA to:
Fax: 818-252-5514

Please add the following to the Fax cover page:
Attn: Field Test Administrator/Mac Field Test

Alternatively you can email the signed NDA (scan in the pages with your signature) to our Field Test administrator.

A few weeks back we released the new Diskeeper 2009 and an update to Diskeeper 2008. Both include major changes to the Boot-time Defragmentation engine.

For users of Diskeeper 2008, if you are running Vista SP1 or Server 2008, the boot-time defrag feature was restored (apologies on the delay). This new iteration adds additional functionality to handle additional metadata files that Diskeeper previously did not such as $SECURE, HIBERFIL.SYS, $Extend\..., $Upcase.

Boot-time defrag will now also do partial defrag of the PAGEFILE.SYS, when free space is low (or really chopped up). Before, defragmenting the paging file was an all or nothing approach.

For user of the latest and greatest, Diskeeper 2009, a even newer, more efficient variation of the boot-time technology was included.

We have a few more things in the works for the boot-time defrag that we are planning to release in the near future (currently targeted for Diskeeper 2009). As always, you can get a first look by joining our Field Testing Program.

I've been a huge fan of Windows Home Server (WHS) from the first moment I got may hands on an early beta build. Even after testing the solid Windows 7 for several months, I'm still convinced WHS is the best OS from MS to date. If you have more than 2 PCs at home, I highly recommend this focused OS - it's simply awesome. No bloat; it just does the handful of things you need exceptionally well.

There are several well known authoritative websites where I find out about the great new solutions for WHS. WeGotServed, and MSWHS are a couple of the best known. You can find even more WHS sites/blogs/forums linked from those sites.

We Got Served recently held their second annual "Best Of" voting, but Diskeeper didn't win. Boo :-).

We did however, take third place to a couple of very cool multimedia organization programs that I personally use (I ripped my DVD collection to my WHS box).

You can check out the awards for Best WHS Hardware and Software here.

I say that for two reasons:

1. It's been over a month since the last blog posting.
2. All the doom and gloom news about the global economy might make people wonder if a company they purchase products from will be around the next day.

Well, the reason for the "quiet" is a good one. We've been busy expanding the company and innovating new software!

Unlike so many dismal financial reports from major corporations (generally the ones that spend borrowed money), we ended 2008 with excellent results. We were literally a split-hair away from setting a new highest-ever income record in the company's 28 year existence. Diskeeper is, and continues to be, extremely profitable, spending only what we earn. That means we'll be here next month, next year, and for many more years to come to answer your questions and service your needs. It means that, for those on maintenance contracts, you'll definitely see killer new versions of Diskeeper.

We've been so busy that in just the next 6-8 months you'll see more new products and technology released from Diskeeper Corporation than we've released in even our most proliferous 2-year span. New technology for virtual machines, Windows boot, more in the realm of NAND Flash optimization, and of course new Diskeeper versions. Even more revolutionary new storage performance solutions are coming in the next 12-18 months.

Numerous news announcements regarding technology licensing to major hardware and software vendors are also around the bend. That means the servers/PCs and software you're buying may have Diskeeper Corporation technology already included.

While many corporations are in hiring freezes and layoffs in anticipation of a slow 2009 (even Microsoft announced some for the first time in its history), we have the most exciting fiscal projections in company history for 2009. We've been hiring senior software engineers at record pace over the last few months to keep up with demand. In fact we have so many projects that we are aggressively looking to near-double the current number of developers. If you're a senior software developer with C++ or C# experience and live or are willing to re-locate to Los Angeles, give us a call - we could use your engineering skills.

PS: Over the next week I'll post info on recent Diskeeper 2008 (boot-time defrag) and 2009 (new features) releases.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

That "magic" is what our advertising team likes to embellish when describing InvisiTasking - please forgive them their marketing indulgences. :-)

Speaking of Arthur C. Clarke, many know he was actively involved in scientific research projects such as SETI. For those of you running SETI@home or similar (Folding@home, GIMPS, etc...) the new enhancements in InvisiTasking, included in Diskeeper 2009, allow it to work seamlessly with these idle-resource volunteer computing applications. See an earlier blog for some background. No adjustments, with either program, are now needed to run these two types of programs together. You can volunteer your unused PC resources for a good cause here.

While InvisiTasking performed extremely well on very busy servers, see this white paper, the improvements to InvisiTasking now allow defragmentation on even the most heavily used 24/7/365 server systems.

In a nutshell, InvisiTasking has been enhanced to leverage those idle resources more effectively, while still maintaining that invisibility that has revolutionized defragmentation technology.

Released side-by-side with Diskeeper today is the new product - HyperFast. HyperFast is the first ever file system based solution designed specifically to optimize NAND Flash devices.

Most NAND Flash storage drives suffer from a different kind of fragmentation than what many are accustomed to. They do not experience the same file fragmentation read delays of traditional platter disks, except in extreme circumstances. Most NAND Flash drives do suffer write penalties that are exacerbated over time by badly fragmented free space.

The new Solid State Drives (SSDs) are based on NAND Flash technology and will degrade over time as free space gets chopped up across the device. You may have heard that you should not "defrag" Flash drives. This is largely true, given the traditional definition of defragmentation as "file defragmentation". That traditional approach would also create excess and unnecessary write activity on these devices (that does not return benefit as it would a HDD), potentially wearing them out faster.

The purpose of HyperFast is optimization of free space to keep file writes at peak "out of box" performance levels. Its design considers both performance and longevity, increasing both through intelligent organization of data on these drives. It addresses the needs of Flash drives without the negative aspects of traditional file defragmenters specifically designed to improve HDD performance.

While HyperFast can improve all portable Flash drives, like the common USB attached thumb/jump drives or Memory Stick/SD card, these storage devices are unlikely, depending on use of course, to accumulate fragmented free space to a significant enough degree. An occasional defrag with Diskeeper, once or twice a year, will likely be sufficient, as Diskeeper will thoroughly consolidate free space. Where HyperFast is needed is when an SSD is used as the primary drive on a Windows computer (e.g. a new laptop). Windows will create serious free space fragmentation on a "C:" drive in a matter of months.

HyperFast is currently available as an add-on (bundled product) option to any edition of Diskeeper 2009, except HomeServer. The Diskeeper 2009 (Home/Professional/Pro Premier) with HyperFast bundle will automatically detect any Flash-based drive and apply HyperFast. If a Hard Disk Drive is detected, an automatic process as well, Diskeeper will be run.

If you do not add HyperFast, Diskeeper 2009 will still detect Flash-based storage and disable Diskeeper defragmentation, by default. You can then choose to enable it - as needed (i.e. for that once a year defrag/cleanup).

The result of this tightly integrated bundle of Diskeeper and HyperFast is a fully automated performance solution without having to manually figure out what solution to run on a given volume. That becomes increasingly valuable if you are deploying Diskeeper and HyperFast to multiple computers, as in a network.

You can get 30-day trialware in the same place you get Diskeeper trialware.

HyperFast is currently only available as a bundle option with Diskeeper. A standalone HyperFast product will be available early next year.

Diskeeper 2009 has just been released. Here's a quick overview of major highlights:

NEW! Titan Defrag Engine is the most powerful defragmentation engine ever built. Starting at 100 GB, it easily handles files fragmented into millions of pieces and volumes up to 20TB and more (available in EnterpriseServer edition).

IMPROVED! InvisiTasking technology enables management-free defragmentation with zero management overhead and zero system overhead. Now improved for busy systems. Having to schedule defrag runs is now a thing of the past. (all editions)

NEW I-FAAST 2.0 (Intelligent File Access Acceleration Sequencing Technology) boosts access speed for the files most frequently used. Now also available in Professional edition.

NEW! MOM integration. Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) allows monitoring and management of computers interconnected by networks. Diskeeper provides MOM with numerous alerts, reports and the ability to manage and control product settings and configurations. (all editions except Home). Management Packs available with Diskeeper Administrator.
*Full Systems Center Operations Manager (SCOM) support will be available later this month.

NEW! Powerful, high-end file storage performance (file servers, NAS RAID, SAN). Terabyte Volume Engine 2.0 defragments volumes with hundreds of thousands to millions of files quickly and thoroughly. Now available in Pro Premier, HomeServer and Server editions.

NEW! Free Space Defragmentation Engine has been enhanced to increase file-write performance. (all editions)

IMPROVED! 100% fail-over support for Windows clustered servers. (Server editions)

NEW! Support for native 64-bit operating systems. Now available in Home edition.

NEW! Automatic Defrag Management. "Bind" Diskeeper policies in Diskeeper Administrator to select computer groups (such as Active Directory Organizational Units). As you add or remove computers to and from those Active Directory groups, your Diskeeper software, settings and licenses will be automatically applied/returned.

IMPROVED! Enterprise Network Support. Diskeeper Administrator support 5-10x faster network scans, powerful new search functionality and numerous additional functionality designed for administrators of business networks.

In addition to English, Diskeeper 2009 is available in Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and now also in Russian.

It also installs and works great on Windows 7.

Over the next few weeks I'll go into detail on some of the new features/functions.

Congratulations to David Samuels, the winner of the EEC PC Laptop. David was ecstatic to hear the good news and mentioned that he really enjoys field testing for Diskeeper Corporation. Congrats to David and thanks to all those who have helped us with beta testing. We're always looking to expand our beta test group. If you want to join email fieldtesting@diskeeper.com. Full instructions on on signing up can be found here.

As you may have noticed, I mentioned in previous comments we had expanded the Field Test for the new boot-time functionality to a "Limited Release". While the boot time defragmentation is working fine, we have seen other anomalies that we need to first sort out before we decide to release this update broadly. If anyone is interested in testing the software now, please email qtesting@diskeeper.com and add "Bootime Defrag testing" in the email subject line.

As a field test site, you would have the opportunity to test and provide input on the software before it's released publicly. The only prerequisite is that you need to be a Diskeeper customer. Become a tester now! Simply fill-out a Non-Disclosure Agreement and send it to our Field Test Administrator. To Download a Diskeeper Non-Disclosure Agreement click the link here. Fax or email (scanned in image) the signed NDA to: Fax: 818-252-5514 Attn: Field Test Administrator Email: fieldtesting@diskeeper.com If you have any further questions, please email or contact us by phone at 818-771-1600 x1506. Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation. Respectfully, Al Montoya Field Test Administrator Diskeeper Corporation (818) 771-1600 ask for Field Test Department Email: qtesting@diskeeper.com

Eric Lundquist of eWEEK is well known for pushing past the mainstream hype of new technology and bringing the reality of what companies are, or need to be, doing today. I found his insight into 2009 quite spot on, you can read it here. On his third point: squeezing every last drop out of what you've got is perhaps the most realistic estimate of what IT will be challenged with. Recessions, down-turns or whatever you want to call it, cause IT departments to re-evaluate their operations and focus on "lean" processes - More value with less work.