Characterize LSM-tree Compaction Performance via On-Device LLM Inference

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ding, Jiabiao, Lv, Yina, Li, Qiao, Shen, Zhirong, Xue, Chun Jason
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Ding, Jiabiao
Lv, Yina
Li, Qiao
Shen, Zhirong
Xue, Chun Jason
author_facet Ding, Jiabiao
Lv, Yina
Li, Qiao
Shen, Zhirong
Xue, Chun Jason
contents Modern key-value storage engines built on Log-Structured Merge-trees (LSM-trees), such as RocksDB and LevelDB, rely heavily on the performance of their compaction operations, which are impacted by a complex set of interdependent configuration parameters. Manually tuning these parameters for optimal performance demands considerable expertise, while traditional auto-tuning approaches struggle with the enormous search space and low sample efficiency inherent to this domain. In recent years, Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated strong capabilities in code generation and logical reasoning, offering new possibilities for system optimization. However, applying LLMs to real-time compaction tuning in such latency-sensitive environments is a double-edged sword. While large-scale LLMs can offer superior reasoning for strategy generation, their high inference latency and computational cost make them impractical for interactive, low-latency tuning. In contrast, small-scale LLMs achieve low latency but often at the expense of reasoning accuracy and tuning effectiveness. In this paper, we first evaluate this trade-off by analyzing the compaction-tuning performance and inference latency of LLMs at different scales in an LSM-tree-based tuning case. We then characterize the performance of LSM-tree on RocksDB v8.8.1, with a focus on adjusting the key compaction-related parameters under db_bench workloads. Our experimental results show a clear positive correlation between model capability and tuning effectiveness.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_12669
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Characterize LSM-tree Compaction Performance via On-Device LLM Inference
Ding, Jiabiao
Lv, Yina
Li, Qiao
Shen, Zhirong
Xue, Chun Jason
Performance
Modern key-value storage engines built on Log-Structured Merge-trees (LSM-trees), such as RocksDB and LevelDB, rely heavily on the performance of their compaction operations, which are impacted by a complex set of interdependent configuration parameters. Manually tuning these parameters for optimal performance demands considerable expertise, while traditional auto-tuning approaches struggle with the enormous search space and low sample efficiency inherent to this domain. In recent years, Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated strong capabilities in code generation and logical reasoning, offering new possibilities for system optimization. However, applying LLMs to real-time compaction tuning in such latency-sensitive environments is a double-edged sword. While large-scale LLMs can offer superior reasoning for strategy generation, their high inference latency and computational cost make them impractical for interactive, low-latency tuning. In contrast, small-scale LLMs achieve low latency but often at the expense of reasoning accuracy and tuning effectiveness. In this paper, we first evaluate this trade-off by analyzing the compaction-tuning performance and inference latency of LLMs at different scales in an LSM-tree-based tuning case. We then characterize the performance of LSM-tree on RocksDB v8.8.1, with a focus on adjusting the key compaction-related parameters under db_bench workloads. Our experimental results show a clear positive correlation between model capability and tuning effectiveness.
title Characterize LSM-tree Compaction Performance via On-Device LLM Inference
topic Performance
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.12669