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Currently I am working on cheap ways to improve my hard disk performance on my PC. I know that one way to do so is short stroking, but I would like to utilize my entire disk, not just part of it. I need a way to move my common files to the outside of my disk platters. Currently I am trying Auslogics Disk Defragmenter, which I understand does this, but I was wondering what programs there are that will move commonly accessed and system files to the outside of ones hard drive. Are there any programs you can specify certain files you want to move to the outside?
My hard drive also has the MFT in two different places, is there a way I can make it continuous and on the outside of the disk?
Also, when one creates a new partition, are the new spaces organized from the outside to the inside of the disk, so if I were to create a partition on my hard drive, the first partition would be on the outer edges of the platters?
contrapsych
Posted 2011-12-26T03:29:58.830
Reputation: 183
FWIW I have first-hand experience with disk controller firmware, and have not seen a valid argument for "short stroking". The ones I have read were based on faulty assumptions or knowledge of disk seek times and how to calculate an "average seek" time. The alleged benefit was way overstated. Partitioning the HDD gets you the exact same seek times as "short stroking" plus the small benefits of a more compact filesystem (e.g. the allocation table is smaller so it's a faster search to find free clusters). – sawdust – 2011-12-26T05:23:30.103
1BTW the partitions are typically allocated from the outer tracks & cylinders inward. The Master Boot Record is written on track zero since the manufacturer guarantees that the first few tracks are error free (else the platter(s) is/are rejected). – sawdust – 2011-12-26T05:23:58.293
@sawdust What about the heads for reading/writing covering more disk area per revolution of the disk. Would that help the read speed of larger continuous files? – contrapsych – 2011-12-26T05:25:56.377
certainly higher data density helps improve R/W head transfer times. But that does not justify any exaggerated claims of "short stroking". I like smaller partitions mostly because, in the aftermath of a dirty shutdown, the chkdisk or fsck takes less time. Sure, go ahead and make your partitions. Just don't expect seek times as fast as a Raptor drive as one argument went. And if your motherboard supports it, use a SATA 6Gb/s drive. Despite widespread misinformation, the PC-to-drive interface transfer is always independent of the R/W head transfer, and any increase is good. – sawdust – 2011-12-26T05:59:57.773
@sawdust Why is any increase good? If SATA 2 itself is fast enough, why use SATA 3? – Milind R – 2013-11-08T10:27:44.787
You are probably thinking of a widespread misunderstanding of how data transfers from HDDs work. The data xfers are individual, independent steps, just like a relay race. Instead of a baton, it's the block of data. For reads, the block of sector data is read off the disk platter; that happens at the bit rate of the platter and depends on whether zone recording is used or not. Then there is another xfer of the data block from the HDD to the PC over the SATA. One xfer happens after the other, not simultaneously. Since each transfer is independent, a speed increase in either helps overall. – sawdust – 2013-11-09T02:10:57.813