rxraza
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HOW TO INCREASE MFT SIZE
I am running windows XP professional. The problem is there is an application which does a lot of file I/O (nearly process 1 million files ). Initially it runs ok but with the passage time lets say after 10 hours it slows down. We discovered that within the first few hours it processes 100,000 files after that the average processing goes down to 30,000 files in an hour.
We looked at the MFT percent in use and that was 99%. REAL PATHETIC. ABOVE ALL the total MFT size was only 190 MB out of 106 GB available free size.
Clearly the MFT size is the problem. Is there a way I can increase the MFT size make it like 20 % of the total disk space. Is this parameter in our control or it is contolled by the OS?
thanks in advance.
We looked at the MFT percent in use and that was 99%. REAL PATHETIC. ABOVE ALL the total MFT size was only 190 MB out of 106 GB available free size.
Clearly the MFT size is the problem. Is there a way I can increase the MFT size make it like 20 % of the total disk space. Is this parameter in our control or it is contolled by the OS?
thanks in advance.
Gary Case
By default, 12.5% of the disk is reserved for MFT use -- so this should NOT be a bottleneck here (remember that many small files can reside entirely within the MFT entry; so that's not as bad as it sounds). It's more likely that your problem is a fragmented MFT than running out of space. Diskeeper Pro is one of the few defragmenters that specifically target defragmentation of the MFT, which may significantly improve the performance you're seeing. I'd download the trial version and give it a try. If it does the trick, the cost is pretty nominal.
... additional note: Before XP (in NT & 2000) you could adjust a registry parameter to control how large of a reserved "zone" was kept for the MFT expansion ==> this was a reserved area that allowed the MFT to expand without causing MFT fragmentation.
Here's the Microsoft KB article that describes that: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;174619#appliesto
Note two things, however: (a) Even if that key was adjusted upward, the reserved area would only apply to any FUTURE NTFS formatted partitions (i.e. it doesn't change what's already been formatted); and (b) most importantly, the article does not apply to XP - so I assume that key would have no effect with XP.
I'm not aware of -- nor could I find -- any XP key that does the same thing.
Here's the Microsoft KB article that describes that: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;174619#appliesto
Note two things, however: (a) Even if that key was adjusted upward, the reserved area would only apply to any FUTURE NTFS formatted partitions (i.e. it doesn't change what's already been formatted); and (b) most importantly, the article does not apply to XP - so I assume that key would have no effect with XP.
I'm not aware of -- nor could I find -- any XP key that does the same thing.
ASKER
In my case the MFT size is 190KB which is not close 12.5 %. Does the MFT size grow automatically if that is the case then when does it feel like growing ?
My concern here is that % MFT in use which is 99 %
My concern here is that % MFT in use which is 99 %
It grows automatically as necessary -- up to 12.5% of the disk. But, like any file structure, it can become fragmented; and fragmentation decreases performance. Unfortunately, Microsoft's defragmenter does NOT defragment the MFT.
Although the KB article I linked to above does not mention XP, it would be interesting to see if you created that value (and set it to 4 for max reserved space); what kind of performance you get on a newly formatted NTFS volume. If you have enough disk space to try it, you might want to give it a shot.
In addition to Diskeeper Pro that I mentioned above (http://www.diskeeper.com/diskeeper/professional/professional.asp?pe=3), Raxco's PerfectDisk also defragments the MFT (http://www.raxco.com/products/perfectdisk2k/)
Although the KB article I linked to above does not mention XP, it would be interesting to see if you created that value (and set it to 4 for max reserved space); what kind of performance you get on a newly formatted NTFS volume. If you have enough disk space to try it, you might want to give it a shot.
In addition to Diskeeper Pro that I mentioned above (http://www.diskeeper.com/diskeeper/professional/professional.asp?pe=3), Raxco's PerfectDisk also defragments the MFT (http://www.raxco.com/products/perfectdisk2k/)
... Here's one more defragger that also defrags the MFT: http://www.oo-software.com/en/products/oodefrag/
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on a newly formatted volume we get around 100,000 files per hour.
So when it gets filled then it should expand itself automatically. Why in my case it is not expanding for the past two or three hours the MFT in use is set to 99% and I do not think that it is expanding
So when it gets filled then it should expand itself automatically. Why in my case it is not expanding for the past two or three hours the MFT in use is set to 99% and I do not think that it is expanding
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Well, thanks guys for the informative post. Actually the problem was not related to the MFT it was some dead locking issues at the database end.
garycase:
the registry key works under XP as well.
I am going to split the points.
garycase:
the registry key works under XP as well.
I am going to split the points.