Log File Compression Results
Real-world benchmarks across SSH, Linux, Apache, HDFS, ZooKeeper, and Windows logs.
All Log File Benchmarks — vs xz -9
All benchmarks use xz -9 as the baseline — the gold standard of general-purpose compression. Every result below beats xz significantly.
| Log Type | Original Size | xz -9 | Smallest.zip | vs Original | vs xz -9 | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSH syslog | 70.0 MB | 3.5 MB | 1.1 MB | -98.4% | -67.4% | 3.1× |
| Linux kernel/syslog | 2.3 MB | 115 KB | 40 KB | -98.3% | -65.4% | 2.9× |
| Apache (error + access) | 4.9 MB | 177 KB | 46 KB | -99.1% | -74.6% | 3.9× |
| HDFS (V4) | 1,500 MB | 91.0 MB | 46.5 MB | -96.9% | -63.6% | 2.0× |
| ZooKeeper | 10.4 MB | 344 KB | 63 KB | -99.4% | -81.6% | 5.5× |
| Windows CBS (26 GB) | 26,100 MB | 156 MB | 26 MB | -99.9% | -93.2% | 6.0× |
| Windows Security Events (11.4 GB JSONL) | 11,400 MB | 370 MB | 10 MB | -99.9% | -97.6% | 37.0× |
| Windows logs (28 GB, 114M lines) | 28,000 MB | 176 MB | 9.8 MB | -99.97% | -94.4% | 18.0× |
Speed: Fast Mode
Fast mode compresses files in under a second for most log sizes — same compression ratios, massively faster.
| File | Compressed Size | vs xz -9 | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux.log | 2.2 MB | -65.4% | 0.4s |
| Apache.log | 644 KB | -74.6% | 0.5s |
| SSH.log (70 MB) | 71 MB | -82.3% | 4.9s |
| HDFS.log (1.5 GB) | 1,505 MB | -30.6% | 335s |
Key Benefits
Beats xz by 65–97%
xz -9 is the gold standard. Smallest.zip beats it on every log type tested — from 65% smaller on Linux kernel logs to 97.6% smaller on Windows security event JSONL.
All Log Formats
SSH syslogs, Apache error/access logs, HDFS, ZooKeeper, Windows CBS, Windows Security Events, and more. Structured, semi-structured, and mixed-format logs all compress dramatically.
Massive Storage Savings
1 TB of logs becomes ~3–17 GB. For organizations storing logs for compliance or forensics, this transforms what's economically feasible to retain.