Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 01:30:26 -0700 From: Rich Morin <rdm@cfcl.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: About reading and writing to files Message-ID: <p05200f25bafcc5432a6a@[192.168.254.205]> In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.4.51.0305300301180.4396@herald.cc.purdue.edu> References: <Pine.SOL.4.51.0305300301180.4396@herald.cc.purdue.edu>
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At 3:04 AM -0500 5/30/03, Bingrui Foo wrote: >I'm wondering in freeBSD, if I have a directory with 10,000 files, or >maybe even 100,000 files, each about 5 kb long. Wondering will reading and >writing to any one of these files in C be affected by the sheer number of >these files? Will the access time be affected significantly? > >Just wondering because not sure whether I should put these data in a >database or just use files with unique names. > >Also will separating the files into many directories help? Looking up .../x/12/34/56 can be done in logarithmic time (i.e., look up .../x/12, then .../x/12/34, then .../x/12/34/56); looking up .../y/123456 (unless some optimization has been added) will require a linear scan through the directory. In short, don't go there... -r -- email: rdm@cfcl.com; phone: +1 650-873-7841 http://www.cfcl.com/rdm - my home page, resume, etc. http://www.cfcl.com/Meta - The FreeBSD Browser, Meta Project, etc. http://www.ptf.com/dossier - Prime Time Freeware's DOSSIER series http://www.ptf.com/tdc - Prime Time Freeware's Darwin Collection
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