[Ti] utility for defragmenting my internal HAD?

[Chris Olson]

Bill Reburn wrote:
> Ok you geeks (I mean that with respect of course),
> 
> So is the question 'to Defrag or not to Defrag?' still in the air?

It's not necessary with unix systems, and OS X is unix (Darwin/BSD 
underpinnings).

There are actually two kinds of fragmentation - file fragmentation and 
volume fragmentation. File fragmentation refers to what happens when a 
file gets broken into lots of tiny pieces so that every little nook and 
cranny of the hard disk can get used (very common with Windows).  Volume 
fragmentation just means that all of the files aren't crammed together 
in one (mostly) contiguous part of the hard disk.  But when you defrag a 
FAT32 partition, as soon as you delete something, you create a hole that 
immediately gets filled by something else, actually reducing efficiency 
and enhancing further file fragmentation.  I don't know exactly how the 
defrag tools work for MacOS 9 and prior.

File fragmentation can be bad - volume fragmentation, not really, and 
can be an advantage.

UNIX filesystem drivers (like Darwin), use high degrees of volume 
fragmentation, by default, to combat file fragmentation, making defrag 
unnecessary, or even harmful in some instances.  Anybody that's ever had 
some sectors go bad on a hard drive, knows that lots of file fragments 
mean the possibility of a much greater number of corrupted files. 
Typically, with failed hard disks in unix machines, virtually all data 
is recoverable with various tools, and that's not the case with non-unix 
operating systems.

I vote for no - don't defrag OS X's filesystem.
-- 
Chris