FOLDER SIZE REPORTING

Key Metric Software has released FolderSizes 9 – a new major version of our world-class disk space analysis software for Windows.

With over a year of development and testing under its belt, FolderSizes 9 introduces sweeping improvements to nearly every feature and function offered by the product. Over a hundred enhancements and fixes make this version of FolderSizes our best yet.

For a high-level overview of what’s new in FolderSizes 9, please see:

https://www.foldersizes.com/features/whatsnew

Or head straight for the download page and try it for yourself:

https://www.foldersizes.com/download

In addition to all the feature enhancements, we’ve also added support for consultant licenses. These allow consulting individuals and companies to use FolderSizes 9 to service their customers broadly, and at reasonable prices.

FolderSizes 9 also finally ends our long-standing support for Windows XP and Server 2003. Microsoft stopped supporting these operating systems back in April of 2014, so it was (probably well past) time for us to do the same. FolderSizes 9 also looks forward by adding official support for Windows Server 2019 and the latest builds of Windows 10.

I’m amazed, at times, when I look back at the growth of FolderSizes since its introduction in 2003. That’s over 16 years of continuous development. And we have no intention of slowing down. So check out the new version and let us know what you think… because we’re always planning for the future.

Key Metric Software is proud to announce the release of FolderSizes 8.5.

The main goal of this release is enhanced support for high resolution displays. We’ve tweaked every aspect of the user interface to ensure correctness in high DPI environments, and now FolderSizes looks and performs beautifully on 4k monitors with display scaling all the way up to 200% (and everything in between).

A range of additional minor feature enhancements and bug fixes are also included in the FolderSizes 8.5 release. And if you’re a FolderSizes v8 license owner, this update is entirely free.

Download the latest version of FolderSizes today.

The release of FolderSizes 8 represented a major milestone for our market-leading storage analysis and reporting product. Not only did we introduce a range of valuable new features, but we re-engineered the product’s file system analysis engine from scratch – with stunning results (note that performance varies based upon storage device speed, etc.).

Since the public release of FolderSizes 8, we’ve received a number of inquiries from users asking how FolderSizes is able to perform as well as it does, especially when compared to similar products. Today I’d like to provide a high-level overview of where we’re at today and how we got here.

“SuperThreading” – A New Approach

The new FolderSizes 8 disk space analysis subsystem was built from the ground up to maximize parallelism and concurrency at all stages. It employs a user-customizable thread pool to minimize thread startup costs, and then intelligently allocates work using proprietary algorithms that maximize effectiveness and minimize the potential for thread contention.

This advanced threading system operates against a proprietary in-memory database model that iteratively constructs a complete working picture of the file system(s) being analyzed. The database dynamically adapts its internal storage model based upon the kind of workload assigned, ensuring that a minimal subset of information is stored in memory at any time, thereby vastly increasing scalability. Special memory compaction and data storage algorithms further ensure optimal memory usage.

All FolderSizes source code is developed using C/C++ and is compiled directly to 32 or 64 bit machine code instructions using the most powerful optimizing compilers available today. Optimizations occur not only during compilation, but also during runtime performance profiling, which optimizes the location of “hot” code paths during real-world program execution scenarios. These efforts result in amazingly fast program execution with minimal computational overhead and resource consumption. In other words, FolderSizes is not only blazingly fast – it’s also very efficient.

FolderSizes was the first product of its type to provide native 64-bit support – an accomplishment that many competing solutions have still not achieved.

FolderSizes also works very hard to optimize both local and network analysis workloads. It understands the semantic differences between these environments and adapts accordingly, ensuring the best possible experience regardless of whether you’re analyzing a local drive, a critical corporate NAS (network attached storage) device, or anything in between.

Collaboration, Experience and Pedigree

 This work was made possible through years of cooperation with many of the largest organizations in the world. FolderSizes provides storage analysis capabilities to the likes of ExxonMobil, Chevron, NASA, Comerica Bank, Marathon Oil, and thousands of other companies with massive data storage requirements. Our close working relationship with these customers has helped us build the most advanced and thoroughly battle-tested disk space analysis product in the world.

Not only is FolderSizes stress tested against massive, real-world storage subsystems, but we also maintain an extensive internal testing environment that includes numerous “extreme” state conditions. This has helped us to develop FolderSizes into a tool that performs with a high level of accuracy in environments where other products simply crash and burn.

FolderSizes is developed and published by Key Metric Software, a Traverse City, MI company specializing in file system analysis and reporting products. Initial work on FolderSizes began early in 2001, with the first formal release published in 2003. That’s over fifteen years of iterative development on FolderSizes. In fact, you can review the product release notes at any time to see exactly how the tool has evolved over the years.

We’re very proud of how FolderSizes has advanced over the years, and even more excited about the future.

FolderSizes was recently selected by the engineering crew of NASA Johnson Space Center to provide disk and file system analysis capabilities throughout the organization. It will be employed in training facilities, test labs, and will be installed directly on laptops for use on the International Space Station.

As the owner/founder of Key Metric Software and amateur astrophysics geek, I’m very excited by this news and eager to help NASA achieve their storage analysis goals. But on a personal note, I can’t shake the feeling that FolderSizes is living my dream by making it to space well before me. 

With the release of FolderSizes v8.3.150, support for Windows Server 2016 has become official.

FolderSizes continues to provide cutting-edge support for new Microsoft operating system releases, this time even ahead of Windows Server 2016 general availability. Our continued goal is to ensure that you have the disk space analysis, reporting, and management capabilities you need when you need them – across all Windows platforms.