Data compression is the compacting of data by reducing the number of bits that are stored or transmitted. Thus, the compressed information needs less disk space than the original one, so extra content can be stored using the same amount of space. You'll find many different compression algorithms which work in different ways and with many of them only the redundant bits are deleted, therefore once the info is uncompressed, there is no decrease in quality. Others erase unnecessary bits, but uncompressing the data subsequently will result in lower quality compared to the original. Compressing and uncompressing content consumes a huge amount of system resources, and in particular CPU processing time, therefore any web hosting platform that uses compression in real time needs to have adequate power to support this attribute. An example how info can be compressed is to replace a binary code such as 111111 with 6x1 i.e. "remembering" what number of consecutive 1s or 0s there should be instead of storing the actual code.
Data Compression in Hosting
The compression algorithm used by the ZFS file system which runs on our cloud web hosting platform is called LZ4. It can supercharge the performance of any Internet site hosted in a hosting account with us since not only does it compress data significantly better than algorithms employed by alternative file systems, but it uncompresses data at speeds that are higher than the hard disk reading speeds. This is achieved by using a lot of CPU processing time, that is not a problem for our platform considering the fact that it uses clusters of powerful servers working together. A further advantage of LZ4 is that it enables us to make backup copies more speedily and on reduced disk space, so we can have multiple daily backups of your files and databases and their generation won't influence the performance of the servers. This way, we could always recover any kind of content that you could have deleted by accident.
Data Compression in Semi-dedicated Hosting
In case you host your websites in a semi-dedicated hosting account with our firm, you will be able to experience the advantages of LZ4 - the powerful compression algorithm used by the ZFS file system that's behind our advanced cloud web hosting platform. What separates LZ4 from all of the other algorithms out there is that it has an improved compression ratio and it is way quicker, especially with regard to uncompressing web content. It does that even quicker than uncompressed data can be read from a hard drive, so your Internet sites will perform better. The higher speed is at the expense of using lots of CPU processing time, that is not a problem for our platform because it consists of a lot of clusters working together. Along with the superior performance, you will also have multiple daily backup copies at your disposal, so you'll be able to recover any deleted content with several clicks. The backup copies are available for a whole month and we can afford to store them as they need significantly less space than standard backups.