[CentOS] Fastest way of removing very large number of files?

Fri Aug 23 06:48:03 UTC 2013
James A. Peltier <jpeltier at sfu.ca>

----- Original Message -----
| Hi All.
| 
| I currently have a problem on my backup server with very large number
| of
| small files in a large number of directories. I would like to delete
| them
| as fast as possible. Currently I use:
| 
| rsync -a --delete /empty_directory/ dir_to_clean/
| 
| I've read that rsync will be faster than rm or find.
| Can you recommend something? I use an ext4 filesystem.
| 
| Best regards,
| Rafal.

If it's on a different file system than mkfs is the fastest. ;)

-- 
James A. Peltier
Manager, IT Services - Research Computing Group
Simon Fraser University - Burnaby Campus
Phone   : 778-782-6573
Fax     : 778-782-3045
E-Mail  : jpeltier at sfu.ca
Website : http://www.sfu.ca/itservices

“A successful person is one who can lay a solid foundation from the bricks others have thrown at them.” -David Brinkley via Luke Shaw