storage compaction
Merge storage runs and reclaim obsolete versions when safe.
Use this when An LSM store accumulates files, tombstones, or background write pressure.
without the term
“This storage engine keeps accumulating sorted files and deleted versions. Explain the merge work and disk requirements.”
with the term · How do you ask a model for storage compaction?
Diagnose compaction debt and amplification. Choose a policy and verify disk headroom and foreground latency.
What is storage compaction?
LSM compaction merges sorted runs and may discard overwritten or deleted versions once retention and snapshot rules allow it. Policies trade read work, rewritten bytes, and temporary space.
Why does storage compaction matter when vibe coding?
An agent can schedule full compaction without accounting for disk headroom or foreground latency.
How do you do storage compaction?
Measure pending compaction bytes, read/write amplification, disk headroom, and latency. Check tombstone and snapshot retention before expecting space to return.
What goes wrong with storage compaction?
Compaction consumes I/O and may need extra space before reclaiming any. It is different from a recovery checkpoint.
Sources for this entry
- RocksDB: Compaction
Compaction merges sorted runs with different write, read, and space amplification tradeoffs.
- RocksDB: Overview
Memtables, sorted table files, log recovery, and the organization of an LSM storage engine.
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