Re: [OT] minimum gzip compression

[Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>]

> I'm trying to tune compression for my httpd. My default it'll gzip any
> (specified type of) file regardless of its size. However, very small
> files will probaly end up being bigger than the original (a 1B file
> becomes 25B). Is there an average minimum size from which to gzip?
> Assuming all files are text files.

You may want to try it out on some files to get an idea of where's the
interesting threshold.  Note that sending a 25B packet is probably not
going to use more network resources than a 1B packet (e.g. the smallest
packet on ethernet is 64B, IIRC).  So it's more a question of comparing
the benefit of compression to the impact it might have on the load
of your machine.
I'd guess that compressing pages less than 1KB isn't worth the effort
[but it's just a gut feeling, don't take my word for it].


        Stefan