Defragmentation is a process in which the fractions of a file are organized, which are scattered throughout the hard disk of an electronic device. This is done in order to make access to it much faster and easier, in addition to ensuring that there are no "gaps" of information in certain parts. This non-contiguous storage problem is called “fragmentation,” and it occurs because files are not being left in continuous areas, due to the constant addition and removal of files from a hard drive. It should be noted that each operating system has a different defragmentation method; in addition, you can use one or more strategies at the same time.
Fragmentation problems can be severe or mild depending on the operating system you are interacting with, due to the way files are organized. Windows is the system in which it is presented much more often; Linux, likewise, can have some drawbacks, but on a smaller scale. Specifically, this occurs because the system places parts of files in empty spaces where a file used to be; This causes a file to become fragmented over time, until it is completely spread out on the hard drive. With defragmentation, the lifetime of a hard drive is increased, and capacity is reduced when performing quick access operations.
There are two types of fragmentation, the internal one, in which disk space is lost due to the existence of files larger than the cluster size, and the external one, caused by the default settings of the blocks of a file system.
