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Compression on ReadyNAS 316

P--and--T
Aspirant

Compression on ReadyNAS 316

I have a ReadyNAS 316 fully outfitted with 6x4TB HDD which gives me 18.17TB in Raid5. (Firmware6.2.4)

 

This morning I checked the system and it said 7.64TB remaining.

 

I elected to select all the shares one by one and ticked the compression option.

 

Several hours later the available free space remains the same.

 

I cannot find anywhere a description of the behaviour of compression.

 

Does compression only apply to new files added?

 

Does the unit retrospectively apply compression over time?

 

What sort of "space saving" should I expect? The unit is approximately 50 photos, the rest business files like PDFs and QuickBook backups etc.

 

Any discussion on whther compression is even effective on these units for storage?

 

Grateful for any input.

 

Philip

 

 

 

 

Message 1 of 5

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StephenB
Guru

Re: Compression on ReadyNAS 316


@P--and--T wrote:

 

So if I created a new directory and copied a few thousand files from their existing location to the new location, would they be compressed along the way?


Yes.

 

Note that jpg (and video files, mp3/mp4/ogg audio files) are compressed already.  So they won't really benefit from this.  RAW photos might losslessly compress, though I don't think you'll see much there either.  So you might as well keep compression off on the shares that contain these files.  

 

Docs and PDFs generally will compress.

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Message 5 of 5

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P--and--T
Aspirant

Re: Compression on ReadyNAS 316

There was a typo in the third to last sentence

 

The unit is approximately 50% photos, the rest business files like PDFs and QuickBook backups etc.

 

Message 2 of 5
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Compression on ReadyNAS 316

See e.g. https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Compression

Only files written after enabling compression would be compressed. Some files will compress better than others.

Message 3 of 5
P--and--T
Aspirant

Re: Compression on ReadyNAS 316

Thankyou

 

So if I created a new directory and copied a few thousand files from their existing location to the new location, would they be compressed along the way?

Message 4 of 5
StephenB
Guru

Re: Compression on ReadyNAS 316


@P--and--T wrote:

 

So if I created a new directory and copied a few thousand files from their existing location to the new location, would they be compressed along the way?


Yes.

 

Note that jpg (and video files, mp3/mp4/ogg audio files) are compressed already.  So they won't really benefit from this.  RAW photos might losslessly compress, though I don't think you'll see much there either.  So you might as well keep compression off on the shares that contain these files.  

 

Docs and PDFs generally will compress.

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