How to Save Space on a 10GB VPS: Compression, tmpfs, and Other Smart Storage Hacks

Have you looked at your VPS and said to yourself, "10 GB? Is that all it has?!" Yup, I was there too. The first VPS that I used was tiny, and I quickly realized how limited that can be. But then I learned some tricks, and I freed up a ton of space. If you have a small VPS, and you want to make 10 GB work, here is what I did.

Step 1: Delete Old files​

Before we try anything fancy, let’s remove the junk. You may be shocked at the space that clears by just taking this step.

Run the following commands:

apt-get autoremove --purge – removes any packages that are not being used.

apt-get clean – cleans the cached files.

journalctl --vacuum-time=7d – removes any logs older than 7 days.

To look for the big files:

du -ahx / | sort -rh | head -n 20

This last command tells you what is using your space.

Step 2: Utilize tmpfs to Conserve Disk Space​

This is a cool trick: use your RAM and not your disk for temporary files. That’s how we introduce: tmpfs.

To set up tmpfs

mount -t tmpfs -o size=256m tmpfs /tmp

This will move your /tmp folder into memory and leave your disk free of junk. Just remember, anything in /tmp will be gone after you reboot, so don’t use this for important files.

Step 3: Use Compressed Folders​

Want a real space saver, as in “magic”? Use a compressed filesystem. In a nutshell, it means that your files take up less space, and you don’t have to do anything differently.

You would do it like this:

1. Install btrfs-progs.

2. Make a file for your new folder:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/compressed.img bs=1M count=2048

3. Format your new file:

mkfs.btrfs /compressed.img

4. Mount it with compression:

mount -o loop,compress=zstd /compressed.img /compressed

In one of my tests, a 2.6GB folder showed up at 1.7GB after compression — that's a savings of 900MB!

Step #4: When to Use These Tricks​

These tricks can be used when:

• You are using a small VPS (ex: 10GB).
• You mostly store text or log files (these compress well).
• You don't mind using additional CPU or RAM to save space.

Overall Thoughts​

So there you have it — even a 10GB VPS can feel bigger using a few tricks. Just declutter your files, utilize temporary files on tmpfs, and add another compressed folder for the rest. I have done it, and save a lot of space; The question is, why be limited, when you can stretch your VPS for free.