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We have a server which is overwhelmed by files used by a web app. Because the number of files in the server is too great the overall performance of the whole server has degraded (including other apps).

The server is using Windows NT, and I think the file system should be NTFS.

Can we zip up multiple files into one single zip file, so that the number of files decreases? For example, we zip 10 files into a zip file, would the number of file decrease from 10 to 1?

John Gardeniers
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lamwaiman1988
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  • Please post the hardware specifications of this server for us to adequately answer the question. Also be specific, are users seeing slowness copying files to the server, or from the server, what kind of network infrastructure do you have? Your question is very ambiguous. – SpacemanSpiff Mar 30 '11 at 03:33
  • are you really saying nt as in nt4? and are you sure the files systems is ntfs if its fat you could have performance issues. – tony roth Mar 30 '11 at 04:27
  • How have you determined that the number of files is the cause of the problem? What else have you checked. And, as already asked, are you really serious about this being NT? – John Gardeniers Mar 30 '11 at 04:44
  • Do you mean it's a FAT file system? Have you checked for fragmentation? How much free space? Could you convert the drive to NTFS? Are the files all in one folder? Why do you think the number of files is a problem? – TristanK Mar 30 '11 at 04:51
  • @John There are 30 millions files. I think that explain all of your question. – lamwaiman1988 Mar 30 '11 at 05:19
  • @gunbuster363, that doesn't answer the question at all. Just having that many files will not necessarily affect performance. There are a great many more factors to consider than just the quantity. So, I ask again - How did you determine that the number of files is the problem? – John Gardeniers Mar 30 '11 at 06:37
  • How could I know? My boss told me so, I am in no place to judge his statement. – lamwaiman1988 Mar 30 '11 at 06:44

1 Answers1

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If you zip 10 files, and then delete the original files, then yes, you will only have 1 file as far as the file system is concerned.

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Mark Henderson
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  • Really? You sure? Because the zip file contains 10 files within. – lamwaiman1988 Mar 30 '11 at 03:48
  • @gunbuster - yes. I'm sure. A single ZIP file (or a RAR file) contains multiple compressed files. The file system only sees one file. Try it out. I'll update my answer. – Mark Henderson Mar 30 '11 at 03:51
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    No worries. Disclaimer: I'm not sure what you're doing is the best way to go about fixing your issue, but without knowing more I can't really pass judgement. – Mark Henderson Mar 30 '11 at 03:54