Write Speed into a big file (in Gb's)

anilgurwara · #1 (**permalink**) 01-20-2009

If a file size increases in Linux/UNIX to say in GB's then will there be a decrease in write speed.
I mean will it take more time to write to a large file then to a small one??

Please clarify?

Thanks in advance

pludi · #2 (**permalink**) 01-20-2009

Let's assume an average write speed of 50MB/s. A file with 10KB will take about 0.0002 seconds to write, whereas a file with 50 GB will need about 17 minutes. So yes, it will take more time to write a large file than a small one.
But if you mean if it takes more time to change a large file than a smaller one, that depends more on the structure and the program accessing it than the filesystem/OS. As an example, mmap()-ing a small file is very fast, but with large files you'll run into problems quickly. On the other hand, accessing data that's stored as a binary tree, with an application optimized for it, is almost always quicker than a linear search through a smaller file (O(log n) vs O(n))

anilgurwara · #3 (**permalink**) 01-20-2009

Thanks Pludi..it makes sense..

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