[clug] very FAT linux filesystems or cluster pixes?

[Scott Ferguson]

On 23/02/11 14:23, A Gupta wrote:
> With that sort of size variation, block size difference doesn't explain it.
> 
> I think either they may be showing the size based on total raw disk
> space you use (if you are provided RAID volume etc) or by default there
> might be some files/utilities occupying around 15MB space in the file
> system which are hidden from the end user.


RAID might explain it, I'm "assuming" the hosting company does RAID
their drives... it's a cheap as dirt shared hosting package. The problem
then is why advertise x amount of disk space when you actually get x/2
of disk space. It's not godaddy doing this - this is a fairly reputable
local company.

Hidden files are certainly possible, but unlikely given that regardless
of what the actual size of the files uploaded, the remote system shows
double.

Being limited to ftp and cPanel means I can't really check a whole lot
(eg. can't "ls -lahs" to check for frothy files). The hosting company
won't allow ssh, but do provide Fffrontpage extensions whether you want
them or not, and remote MySQL.

I've queried support several times and they've adroitly avoided a direct
answer - though they have "gifted" me with an extra 75% of space, but
not before telling how cheap extra capacity is.

Not understanding why this is happening is the most irritating thing -
and I dread the idea of trying to explain to a client why they are
paying for twice the space they actually use. It's also a little
embarrassing that I've failed to notice this before - only last month I
proudly told a client that old static site had been replaced by a new
site with twice the content and taking up 1/4 of the files space - when
I checked yesterday that site is roughly 60MB on my server, nearly 120MB
on the hosted server :-(
> 
> Cheers, Anshul
> 
> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 1:57 PM, Scott Ferguson
> <scott.ferguson.clug at gmail.com <mailto:scott.ferguson.clug at gmail.com>>
> wrote:
> 
>     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.
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>