Linux SSDs and BTRFS - a match made in heaven?

vishalrao

vishalrao

Global Moral Police
Level J
BTRFS has the "compress" mount option which enables on-the-fly compression - ZLIB default (maximum space) and the newer LZO kind for faster operation.

Was trying to get BTRFS with compression on my laptop's 64 GB SSD to see how it affected the space and speed, since SSDs have super high per-GB cost and already hitting against SATA 3 Gbps speed limit.

But sadly the Ubuntu 11.04 alpha 2 Live CD and alternate ISO installers don't allow you to specify this option. You can enable it after installation but it does not help with files already on disk.

Found a suggested trick here, yet to try it: 10.10 - Trick installer to use btrfs root with compression - Ask Ubuntu - Stack Exchange

And some interesting results shown by Phoronix: [Phoronix] Benchmarks Of The Btrfs Space Cache Option

Of course, the newer SSDs based on SandForce controllers will probably see tragic results since these are already squeezing speed/cost-per-GB benefits by being smart and doing on-the-fly compression under-the-hood.

Looking forward to some speed boost and extra storage space on my "2nd gen" Crucial branded IndiLinx firmware-based SSDs :D
 
@gaurish, why not get a smaller more affordable model like a kingston 32gb or something? or, if not too far away, you could wait til your next system update, by then SATA 6gbps devices should be available.

Just saw some nice workaround posted on the forums: Ubuntu Forums - View Single Post - BTRFS compress option in live or alternate installers?

A still struggling with some boot issues, but maybe the followup post about btrfs root subvol permissions just now may help: Ubuntu Forums - View Single Post - BTRFS compress option in live or alternate installers?

Damn, feels so close :D

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Got it to "work" but can't figure out if its doing good or bad :D Kernel panics galore! See Ubuntu Forums - View Single Post - BTRFS compress option in live or alternate installers?
 
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