NewTek TriCaster 2 Elite (3 RU) - Manual (Page 68)

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• Update – NewTek may periodically provide software updates. Updates can enhance performance,
security or even add useful new features. If the unit is connected to the Internet, clicking Update
takes you to the Updates and Downloads webpage where you can locate the most recent software
version.
Having done so, you can download and run the
Auto Updater for the new version, or use the Download
Tool option, which allows you to store the related files on another system for later transfer to your
NewTek live production system.
• Defragment all Drives
Over the course of lengthy use, data on hard drives devoted to audio and video storage tends to
become fragmented, which degrades playback performance. Defragmenting will correct this
condition.
You could think of your hard drive as being like a shelf in your library. As time goes along, the shelf
fills with books. Some are quite large, others smaller
– just as media files may be larger or smaller.
As time goes along, you decide to remove books you have
finished using from the shelf, in order to make room for new
additions. You remove a book here, another there, opening up
gaps between the remaining books.
This makes some shelf space available by creating gaps
between the remaining books. Sadly, another large new book
may be too big to fit in any one of the gaps.
A foolish librarian might tear the new book into smaller
sections, just big enough to fit into the open spaces on the shelf.
This would obviously be unwise. When you wish to refer to the
book later, you will waste a lot of time locating and assembling its sections before you can access it.
How much better it would be to slide the remaining books closer together, combining all the free
space first. Unfortunately, computers are ‘foolish librarians’. They tend to want to fill in all the gaps
in their storage areas, even if this requires literally shredding your ‘book’ (in reality large video files
from your sessions) into tiny fragments.
Defragmenting the storage volume has the same effect as sliding the books together, resulting in one
or more larger gaps. The end result is that the system
doesn’t have to frantically search in many
different places to assemble the video streams from your recorded session.
Hint: Defragmentation can sometimes take considerable time, so it’s not something you want to begin just
before an important event.
• Backup or Restore System – A complete set of Backup and Restore features are available to help in the
event of an unforeseen problem. We strongly encourage you to protect against any unforeseen
FIGURE 40