User guide

A-20
CLIPSTER Edit Tool User Guide
means a defragmentation will not be performed under the following
conditions:
– When the system performs real-time tasks such as a play-out or
record,
– when the software is running in slave mode, or
– when the software is running with the VTR task mode of the
I/O Tool activated.
If one of the above said is the case, no defragmentation will take place.
After starting the DVS software the defragmentation process is running
in the background of the system. It operates in loops at certain inter-
vals. Each time it is started it will go through various checkings and
phases of defragmentation. Whether a defragmentation has to be per-
formed is indicated by a special assessment that evaluates the fragmen-
tation degree of the clips on the storage. Once a defragmentation is
indicated, it will start by defragmenting the worst fragmented files and
align them on the storage so that they are optimized for real-time tasks
such as a play-out or a record. In its next cycle it will take other, not so
worse fragmented files and so on, until all data is defragmented suffi-
ciently. Afterwards in each cycle only the checking is performed until a
fragmentation is detected once more.
A triggered defragmentation process is automatically halted as soon as
a real-time task is performed or the DVS software is set to one of the
other above mentioned states, and it will be started again when the
software provides the operating conditions of the defragmentation
process once more.
When operating at regular intervals with sufficient stand-still
times and a moderate acquisition of data, the storage of the
DVS system will always be in a perfect state for real-time oper-
ations.
The DVS defragmentation process uses proprietary routines
to defragment the data on the storage. Because the Windows
defragmentation tool does not apply the same routines, it is
best not to use it for a defragmentation of the main storage
but to leave this task to the DVS defragmentation process
alone.
After copying or recording large amounts of data to the stor-
age, it is recommended to leave the DVS software running for
a longer period of time (e.g. over night) without performing
any real-time tasks (play-out or record) or having the slave
mode/VTR task mode activated. This will give the defrag-
mentation tool time to reorganize the files on the storage for
an optimized real-time performance. For this you may also
start the defragmentation process manually (see section
“Starting the Process Manually” on page A-21).