Disk Optimization
The process of reorganizing scattered file fragments so that data reads happen more quickly.
What is defragmentation?
The Windows feature that lets you combine multiple physical drives into one logical pool.
What is Storage Spaces (or a storage pool)?
The original acronym for combining multiple drives to improve performance or redundancy.
What is RAID (“Redundant Array of Independent Disks”)?
The operation that reclaims unused blocks on an SSD, helping maintain performance over time.
What is TRIM (or garbage collection)?
A type of virtual disk layout that keeps two copies of your data for extra protection.
What is Mirror (or a mirrored virtual disk)?
This RAID level stripes data across drives with no fault tolerance—speed over safety.
What is RAID 0?
Abbreviation for the unit measuring how much data moves per second during disk operations.
What is MB/s (megabytes per second)?
The layout that spreads data and parity information across three or more disks to balance performance and resiliency.
What is Parity (or a parity virtual disk)?
This level keeps an exact copy of your data on two (or more) drives—safety over speed.
What is RAID 1?
This term refers to the delay before data transfer begins, often impacted by how far the disk head must travel.
What is latency (or seek time)?
The Storage Spaces setting that only allocates physical capacity as you actually write data.
What is Thin Provisioning (or thinly provisioned)?
Stripes data across drives with single distributed parity; needs at least three drives.
What is RAID 5?
A type of drive with no moving parts, known for lower latency and higher reliability.
What is an SSD (solid-state drive)?
The process of moving frequently used files to faster media (like SSD) and colder data to slower disks within the same pool.
What is Tiering (or storage tiers)?
Adds a second parity block for extra fault tolerance; needs at least four drives.
What is RAID 6?