[olug] Filesystem Compression

[Phil Brutsche]

Andrew Embury wrote:

> I'm running RedHat EL ES 3.  Stability is the #1 concern.

If that is your concern, do not attempt to perform file system-level
compression under Linux.

IIRC the only patch available is called e2compr for ext2 file systems.
It was a big deal in the 2.0.x and 2.2.x days, and I think it got
updated for 2.4.x kernels, but the stability of the patch is a really
big question (according to the mailing list, don't even think about it
if you have an SMP system), especially considering how heavily patched
RH 2.4.x kernels are to begin with.

If you can get your backup software to perform the compression I would
look into that.

-- 

Phil Brutsche
phil at brutsche.us