---
id: cs-compression-algorithms
title: Compression — gzip / brotli / zstd / lz4
category: Coding
status: draft
source_trust_level: B
verification_status: conceptual
created_at: 2026-05-09
updated_at: 2026-05-09
tags: [cs, compression, vibe-coding]
tech_stack: { language: "TS / Various", applicable_to: ["Backend", "Frontend"] }
applied_in: []
aliases: [gzip, brotli, zstd, lz4, snappy, deflate, compression ratio]
---

# Compression Algorithms

> Network / disk 압축. **gzip (legacy), brotli (web), zstd (modern), lz4 (속도)**. Trade-off: ratio vs CPU. Per use case.

## 📖 핵심 개념
- Ratio: 작을수록 좋음.
- Speed: compress / decompress 별.
- Memory: small footprint.
- Streaming: 점진 압축.

## 💻 코드 패턴

### 비교 (대략)
```
Algorithm  Ratio    CPU comp    CPU decomp   Use case
gzip       3-5x     middle      fast         legacy web, log
brotli     5-7x     slow-ish    fast         web (HTTP)
zstd       4-6x     fast        very fast    modern default
lz4        2-3x     very fast   very fast    memory cache, snap
snappy     2-3x     very fast   very fast    big data (Cassandra)
xz         5-10x    slow        slow         backup
zlib       3-5x     middle      fast         legacy
```

### Node 사용
```ts
import zlib from 'node:zlib';
import { promisify } from 'node:util';

// gzip
const gzip = promisify(zlib.gzip);
const gunzip = promisify(zlib.gunzip);

const compressed = await gzip(Buffer.from('hello'.repeat(1000)));
const decompressed = await gunzip(compressed);

// Brotli
const compressed = await promisify(zlib.brotliCompress)(buf);
const decompressed = await promisify(zlib.brotliDecompress)(compressed);
```

### Streaming
```ts
import { createGzip } from 'node:zlib';
import { pipeline } from 'node:stream/promises';
import fs from 'node:fs';

await pipeline(
  fs.createReadStream('input.txt'),
  createGzip({ level: 6 }),
  fs.createWriteStream('output.txt.gz'),
);
```

### zstd (modern, recommend)
```bash
yarn add @mongodb-js/zstd  # 또는 node-zstandard
```

```ts
import zstd from '@mongodb-js/zstd';

const compressed = await zstd.compress(buffer, 3);  // level 1-22
const decompressed = await zstd.decompress(compressed);
```

### HTTP — gzip / brotli (자동)
```ts
// Express
import compression from 'compression';
app.use(compression({
  level: 6,
  threshold: 1024,        // > 1KB 만
  filter: (req, res) => {
    const t = res.getHeader('Content-Type');
    return /text|json|javascript|css|svg/.test(String(t));
  },
}));
```

```ts
// Hono (modern, brotli + gzip)
import { compress } from 'hono/compress';
app.use(compress({ encoding: 'br' }));  // 또는 gzip
```

→ 자동 Accept-Encoding 검사 + 적절 algorithm.

### nginx
```nginx
gzip on;
gzip_types text/css application/javascript application/json;
gzip_min_length 1024;
gzip_comp_level 6;

brotli on;
brotli_types text/css application/javascript application/json;
brotli_comp_level 6;
```

→ Brotli 가 web 표준 (3-5% 더 작음 vs gzip).

### Pre-compression (static)
```bash
# Build 시 압축 — runtime CPU 안 씀
brotli -k -q 11 dist/*.js dist/*.css   # 최강 압축
gzip -k -9 dist/*.js dist/*.css

# 또는 vite plugin
```

```ts
// vite.config.ts
import compression from 'vite-plugin-compression';
plugins: [
  compression({ algorithm: 'gzip', ext: '.gz' }),
  compression({ algorithm: 'brotliCompress', ext: '.br' }),
];
```

```nginx
# Pre-compressed serve
gzip_static on;
brotli_static on;
```

→ Build 시 1번 압축 + nginx 가 그냥 serve.

### 압축 가능한 vs 불가능한
```
Compress 잘 됨:
  Text (JSON, XML, HTML, CSS, JS, log, code)
  
Compress 안 됨:
  Image (JPEG, PNG, WebP — 이미 압축)
  Video (MP4, WebM)
  Audio (MP3, AAC)
  Binary (PDF, archive)
  Random / encrypted
  
→ Image / video 도 압축 시도 = CPU 만 쓰고 더 작아지지도 않음.
```

### Database column (Postgres TOAST)
```
TEXT / BYTEA > 8KB → 자동 PGLZ 압축.
LZ4 도 옵션 (Postgres 14+).

ALTER TABLE x ALTER COLUMN data SET COMPRESSION lz4;
```

→ Disk 절약. Query speed 거의 영향 X.

### Compression in storage
```
Parquet:    Snappy (default) / gzip / zstd / brotli
ORC:        Snappy / zlib / lzo
ClickHouse: lz4 / zstd
Cassandra:  Snappy / lz4 / zstd
RocksDB:    Snappy / lz4 / zstd
```

→ zstd 가 modern best (ratio + speed).

### Network — sockets
```ts
// WebSocket compression
const ws = new WebSocket(url, { perMessageDeflate: true });
```

→ 큰 message 자주 = enable.

### Brotli vs gzip (web specific)
```
Brotli static dictionary = HTML / JS / CSS 자주 단어.
같은 size 파일 → brotli 가 5-15% 작음.

→ Modern web = brotli + gzip fallback.
```

### Compression bomb (보안)
```
1KB compressed → 1GB decompressed.
Server 가 검사 없이 decompress = OOM.

→ Max decompressed size limit.
```

```ts
import { gunzipSync } from 'node:zlib';

const MAX_SIZE = 100 * 1024 * 1024;  // 100MB
const decompressed = gunzipSync(buf, { maxOutputLength: MAX_SIZE });
```

### LZ4 (memory cache)
```ts
import LZ4 from 'lz4js';

const compressed = LZ4.compress(buf);
const decompressed = LZ4.decompress(compressed);
```

→ 매우 빠름 — Redis 가 사용 가능.

### Snappy (big data, Hadoop / Cassandra)
- 매우 빠른 compress / decompress.
- Ratio 약함 (2-3x).
- Big data scenarios.

### 압축 level 결정
```
gzip / brotli / zstd: 1 (fast) - 9/11/22 (slow + smaller)

Real-time stream: level 1-3
HTTP 응답: 6 (default)
Static asset: 11 (max — pre-build)
Backup: max
```

### 측정
```ts
const original = data.length;
const t0 = Date.now();
const compressed = await zstd.compress(data, 3);
const t1 = Date.now();
const decompressed = await zstd.decompress(compressed);
const t2 = Date.now();

console.log({
  original,
  compressed: compressed.length,
  ratio: (original / compressed.length).toFixed(2),
  compressMs: t1 - t0,
  decompressMs: t2 - t1,
});
```

### Dictionary compression (큰 절약)
```
같은 schema JSON 매번 보내면 — 같은 키 반복.
Pre-built dictionary 로 더 작게.

zstd 가 dict mode 지원:
zstd --train *.json -o dict
zstd -D dict input.json
```

→ 50-80% 더 작아짐 가능.

## 🤔 의사결정 기준
| 사용 | 추천 |
|---|---|
| HTTP 응답 (실시간) | brotli (level 4-6) + gzip fallback |
| Static asset (build) | brotli max + gzip max pre-compressed |
| Database column | zstd / lz4 |
| Memory cache | lz4 / snappy |
| Backup | zstd / xz |
| Streaming pipe | zstd / lz4 |
| Big data analytic | snappy / zstd |
| Real-time game | lz4 |

## ❌ 안티패턴
- **이미 압축된 file 다시**: CPU 낭비. 검사 후.
- **Compress small data (< 1KB)**: header overhead.
- **Decompression bomb 무 limit**: OOM 공격.
- **Static asset 매 요청 압축**: pre-compress.
- **Brotli only — gzip fallback X**: 옛 client 깨짐.
- **Level 22 real-time**: latency 큼.
- **모든 Content-Type 압축**: image 등 안 줄어듦.

## 🤖 LLM 활용 힌트
- Web: brotli + gzip fallback (자동 lib).
- Storage: zstd (modern).
- Speed-critical: lz4 / snappy.
- Pre-compress static.

## 🔗 관련 문서
- [[Web_HTTP_Cache_Headers]]
- [[Mobile_App_Size_Optimization]]
- [[Frontend_Image_Optimization]]