Write amplification measures how much data a storage system writes compared with the original data size. Compaction strategies can increase it when they rewrite existing data. section 8.4.1
Compaction strategy changes the expected amplification and its operational trade-offs:
- STCS typically produces about 4× amplification and is the default choice. section 8.4.1
- LCS typically produces about 10× amplification because compaction may rewrite an entire level, consuming more disk bandwidth. section 8.4.1
- Choose LCS when compacting space is a concern, while recognizing its higher bandwidth demand. section 8.4.1
Comparing compaction strategies
If an application initially writes 1 GB of data, roughly 4 GB may be written with STCS and roughly 10 GB with LCS over subsequent compactions. section 8.4.1
