[LeifCarrotson]

One counter to this argument is that, while the CPU has thousands of cycles to do compression while an old 5400 RPM spinning rust drive seeks or writes, a modern SSD like the new Samsung 960 Pro can write data at 2100 MB/s, giving the CPU perhaps one cycle per byte, which makes compression difficult.

The counter to my counter, of course, is that specialized silicon for compression can easily keep up with even these speeds. In fact, Sandforce SSD controllers build in compression to boost read and write speeds!

[tonyarkles]

Thanks for the reminder that while grad school doesn't feel that long ago, spinning rust was definitely the name of the game at the time. SSDs were a thing, but way too expensive and small for non-exotic purposes... :D

[miahi]

Sandforce does compression for minimizing writes, not for speed. They are slower than non-compressing controllers for some tasks because of that, but it should increase the device's lifetime.