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Codecs

TL;DR

Compression codecs shrink data on disk, reducing storage and speeding up queries. Delta encoding achieves 10-40x compression on timestamps. Sorted data compresses way better than unsorted.

Why Compression Matters

Compression happens per column, so you can choose the best codec for each data pattern. I/O savings beat CPU overhead. Sorted data compresses much better than unsorted.

Common Codecs

ZSTD (Zstandard)

General-purpose compression with good balance of ratio and speed. Default choice for most columns.

event_time DateTime CODEC(ZSTD)
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Codecs | ClickHouse for Developers