Groove heaven at last, Groove performance solved

We at PopG have always prided ourselves providing the best performing Groove installation around. That is not a position we take on easily. Performance is a very personal thing. Performance is about perception. And keeping Groove performing has not been easy. But let us start by looking at performance in general and then we can come back to Groove...

For the last few years Intel have been pushing ever faster CPUs And these are the ultimate in perception statements. Does a new 3.2ghz , 3.6ghz, 4ghz etc processor actually help you type a letter to your bank manager any faster? Probably not. Does it help run Skype better, probably yes. Does it help you talk faster on Skype - definitely not. Does a new CPU announcement help Intel profits, definitely yes. And the same goes for AMD, or whoever. The important thing is that as nice as it is to have a go-faster CPU, that may not help your Groove experience.

The second primary dimension of computer performance is RAM. Until a couple of years ago this was an issue of cost and supply. Then the brakes came off and memory prices dropped and the amount shipped with new computers became at least sensible and at best excellent. So for many people surfing the web today lack of suitable computer memory is a non-issue.

The final attribute of computing that traditionally defines performance is that of your disk subsystem. Today this is where most people fail -and fail badly. Many computer users take the sensible & relatively easy steps to address this area, including addressing the basics of disk fragmentation. Very few go further, and the primary reason for stopping is the relative difficulty in making further inroads. Essentially improving disk performance is an art often reserved for the computer professional whose responsibility it is to address this area.

There is another attribute of computing performance that should be added to these three - Internet connectivity. And if I can demonstrate the potential for improvement in two computers, side by side, both downloading a 300meg file. One was achieving 40kbps, while the other was going at 250kbps. A tune-up on the offending computer by yours truly, a reboot and then both achieved the same performance.

Of all of these disk performance is the one that has held Groove back. What is important to understand is that these are not isolated objects. Fix disk performance and ignore the others and you are wasting your time and energy. Addressing all four primary areas mixed with addressing other aspects of your Groove computer life can lead to a state of Groove heaven.

Perfection in Groove performance is something that I had thought was unattainable. Even with all my pride in understanding of PC technology and Windows computing I thought that Groove would forever be held back. Until recently I felt that Groove would not perform until Longhorn.

Starting around six months ago PopG had taken a position on GFS (Groove File/Folder Sharing) was not supportable. GFS had continually caused extraneous CPU and DISK performance issues. We had had to take a stance that GFS was not to be used by PopG users. It was banned.

Do not think from this that GFS was the entire problem - it was not. Life with GFS was just harder, much harder.

But now the good news. Right now it is possible to run Groove properly on and off PopG. Right now it is possible to use GFS on - and off PopG. The same performance tips have been tested on a range of computers from the latest XP laptops, through a range of w2k and w2k3 servers down to some "obsolete" computers.

Right now your Groove can run at the same speed as any other application on your computer. Right now your computer can run applications along with Groove and not complain.

We welcome enquiries from companies needing to solve their Groove performance issues.