linux-ext4 - How full should the inode table be?

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Date:	11 Nov 2012 04:55:12 -0500
From:	"George Spelvin" <linux@...izon.com>
To:	linux-ext4@...r.kernel.org
Cc:	linux@...izon.com
Subject: How full should the inode table be?

I have an ext4 file system which was formatted with the default number
of bytes per inode, leading to a lot of wasted inodes:

Filesystem      1K-blocks       Used  Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/md0       9728762072 6902736072 2337647668  75% /data
Filesystem        Inodes   IUsed     IFree IUse% Mounted on
/dev/md0       152619008 2012348 150606660    2% /data

Now, it turns out that I have to rebuild it with 64-bit block numbers
in order to grow it past 16 TB (wow, was *that* a nasty surprise),
and I intend to use a somewhat saner bytes/inode ratio.

(Ignoring the slight space gain, fewer inodes means faster e2fsck.)

Now, the current data, which is a decent model for future data, is
running 3512514 bytes/inode.

I could just use that, so the FS will run out of data blocks at about
the same time as it runs out of inodes, but I wonder: does the FS benefit
from more slack in inode allocation?

Given that accessing all the inodes in a directory is much more common
than scanning all the data in a directory, perhaps reducing fragmentation
in the inode table has a significant performance benefit.

I.e. perhaps an 80% full inode table causes more problems than an 80%
full disk, and I should try to leave more free space.

Allocating 2x the inodes I think I'll need doesn't cost very much,
after all.  256 additional bytes of inode per 3512514 bytes is only 0.007%
overhead, after all.

STFWing a bit, I see lots of people applying fidge factors of from 1.2
to 4 to the measured bytes/inode to get the -i argument.  But I don't
see any real justification for the numbers.
Any advice?

Many thanks!
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