[clug] very FAT linux filesystems or cluster pixes?

[Scott Ferguson]

Can any one give me a reason why the same files should dramatically
change size according to the file system it resides on?

Eg#0 1960 files in 259 sub-folders == 11.8MB debian lenny server ext3

Eg#1 same files, checked with md5 sums == 11.8MB debian squeeze server ext4

Eg#2 ditto, == 11.8MB on unknow OS and files system (*cough* godaddy *spit*)

Eg#3 ditto, == 27MB CentOS, unknown filesystem (other web hosting company)

ftp & cPanel always seem to show Eg#3 as using close to double the
amount of space used elsewhere for the identical files. I've even md5
summed before uploading, then downloaded and checked. On host #3 the
system shows almost twice the space being used...

I have access to several accounts on host #3 and when I check I find the
same thing - the same files on that host occupy almost twice the space
they do on file systems I control - whether physical or virtual.

My strong suspicion is that I'm being scammed but I don't have proof, I
can't work out how it's being done, or why. None of the affected
accounts pay more because of the "different" space measurements (they
still have free space). Feeling pretty stupid here, because I've used
and advocated the company for some time, and only just noticed the
problem (undocumented feature?) when I went to move an existing cms from
a webserver where it occupies 22MB of space to another hosted server
with 30MB and started running out of space.... which lead me to examine
the space used by other clients on the same host :-(

Individually the hosted files (Eg#3) show as the correct size in cPanel
and in ftp, it's in total that the discrepancy arises - even after
emptying the public_html, and verifying via cPanel that no space is
used, and re-installing.

Curiouser, and curiouser...

Thanks in advance.