Re: Real size vs. Allocated size... -- MIDRANGE-L

Ken -

In your case, the "allocated" size is probably the _minimum_ amount of storage than can be allocated for the IFS object...it is probably the "cluster size" on the disk, or the minimum number of sectors that must be allocated for an IFS object.

This phenomenon can also be observed on any PC hard disk...open a text editor, put a single character into a text document, and save it to disk...then go back and see how much storage it occupies.

As a test, I just used Notepad to create a text file named XXX.TXT, and put a single 'A' into it. when I use DIR to view the files in the folder, it shows a size of 5. However, when I use Explorer to view the properties of the file, it says that 4096 bytes are allocated, so on my PC the cluster size is probably 4096 bytes.

Regards,
Steve

----- Original Message ----- From: "Graap, Ken" <keg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "'Midrange'" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 10:36 AM Subject: Real size vs. Allocated size...

We are storing "millions" of small TIFF images in the IFS.
After doing this for a couple of months we have noticed that they are taking up much more space than originally planned...
When I look at the attributes for one of them I see this:
Size of object data in bytes . . . . . :   33936
Allocated size of object . . . . . . . :   65536
OS/400 HELP tells me that "allocated size" is:
The number of bytes that have been allocated for the object.  The
allocated size varies by object type and file system.  For example, the
allocated size includes the object data size as well as any logically
sized extents to accommodate anticipated future requirements for the
object data.  It may or may not include additional bytes for attribute
information.
I'm not completely sure if the allocated size is taking up "real" disk
space...
These files do not need additional space allocated. There are what they are and will not grow in size...
Does anyone know how I can make the allocated size equal to the real size,
when I create new objects like this in the IFS or do I even have to worry
about this?
Kenneth
****************************************
Kenneth E. Graap
IBM Certified Specialist
AS/400e Professional System Administrator
NW Natural (Gas Services)
keg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Phone: 503-226-4211 x5537
FAX:    603-849-0591
****************************************
-- This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing list To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options, visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.