Data compression on Disk

Dgraph Alpha lets you configure the compression of data on disk using the --badger superflag’s compression option. You can choose between the Snappy and Zstandard compression algorithms, or choose not to compress data on disk.

The following disk compression settings are available:

For example, you could choose to use Zstandard compression with the highest compression level using the following command:

dgraph alpha --badger compression=zstd:3

This compression setting (Zstandard, level 3) is more CPU-intensive than other options, but offers the highest compression ratio. To change back to the default compression setting, use the following command:

dgraph alpha --badger compression=snappy

Using this compression setting (Snappy) provides a good compromise between the need for a high compression ratio and efficient CPU usage.