javier · Oct 19, 2026 · Oct 19, 2026
diff --git a/documentation/deployment/aws.md b/documentation/deployment/aws.md
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ import CodeBlock from "@theme/CodeBlock"
 |-----------|-------------|-------|
 | Instance | `m7i.xlarge` or `r7i.2xlarge` | 4-8 vCPUs, 16-64 GiB RAM |
 | Storage | `gp3`, 200+ GiB | 16000 IOPS / 1000 MBps |
-| File system | `zfs` with `lz4` | Or `ext4` if compression not needed |
+| File system | `ext4` or `xfs` | Compression is handled by Parquet, not the file system |
+| Compression | Storage policy with `TO PARQUET` | Add `TO REMOTE` to tier history to S3 (Enterprise) |
 | Ports | 9000, 8812, 9009, 9003 | Restrict to known IPs only |
 
 ---
@@ -75,13 +76,30 @@ before provisioning storage.
 
 **File system:**
 
-Use `zfs` with `lz4` compression to reduce storage costs. If you don't need
-compression, `ext4` or `xfs` offer slightly better performance.
+Format the data disk as `ext4` or `xfs`. QuestDB compresses data itself, so the
+file system does not need to.
+
+**Compression and tiering:**
+
+QuestDB compresses data by storing older partitions as
+[Parquet](/docs/concepts/parquet/#data-compression), which uses `lz4_raw`
+compression by default and stays fully queryable. In QuestDB Enterprise, a
+[storage policy](/docs/concepts/storage-policy/) with a `TO PARQUET` stage
+converts partitions automatically as they age. In QuestDB open source, convert
+them manually with
+[`ALTER TABLE CONVERT PARTITION`](/docs/concepts/parquet/#converting-to-parquet).
+
+For further savings in Enterprise, add a `TO REMOTE` stage so the policy also
+tiers Parquet partitions to S3 [cold storage](/docs/concepts/cold-storage/). S3
+usually costs less than EBS, the cluster keeps a single copy that every instance
+reads instead of one copy per replica, and history can grow beyond the size of
+a single volume.
 
 **Unsupported storage:**
 
 - **EFS** - Not supported. Network latency is too high for database workloads.
-- **S3** - Not supported as primary storage. Use for replication (Enterprise only).
+- **S3** - Not supported as primary storage. Use for replication and cold
+  storage (Enterprise only).
 
 ### Networking
 

diff --git a/documentation/deployment/azure.md b/documentation/deployment/azure.md
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ import CodeBlock from "@theme/CodeBlock"
 |-----------|-------------|-------|
 | Instance | `D4s_v5` or `E8s_v5` | 4-8 vCPUs, 16-64 GiB RAM |
 | Storage | Premium SSD v2, 200+ GiB | 16000 IOPS / 1000 MBps |
-| File system | `zfs` with `lz4` | Or `ext4` if compression not needed |
+| File system | `ext4` or `xfs` | Compression is handled by Parquet, not the file system |
+| Compression | Storage policy with `TO PARQUET` | Add `TO REMOTE` to tier history to Blob Storage (Enterprise) |
 | Ports | 9000, 8812, 9009, 9003 | Restrict to known IPs only |
 
 ---
@@ -100,14 +101,32 @@ capacity to get required IOPS.
 
 **File system:**
 
-Use `zfs` with `lz4` compression to reduce storage costs. If you don't need
-compression, `ext4` or `xfs` offer slightly better performance.
+Format the data disk as `ext4` or `xfs`. QuestDB compresses data itself, so the
+file system does not need to.
+
+**Compression and tiering:**
+
+QuestDB compresses data by storing older partitions as
+[Parquet](/docs/concepts/parquet/#data-compression), which uses `lz4_raw`
+compression by default and stays fully queryable. In QuestDB Enterprise, a
+[storage policy](/docs/concepts/storage-policy/) with a `TO PARQUET` stage
+converts partitions automatically as they age. In QuestDB open source, convert
+them manually with
+[`ALTER TABLE CONVERT PARTITION`](/docs/concepts/parquet/#converting-to-parquet).
+
+For further savings in Enterprise, add a `TO REMOTE` stage so the policy also
+tiers Parquet partitions to Blob Storage
+[cold storage](/docs/concepts/cold-storage/). Blob Storage usually costs less
+than managed disks, the cluster keeps a single copy that every instance reads
+instead of one copy per replica, and history can grow beyond the size of a
+single disk.
 
 **Unsupported storage:**
 
 - **Azure NetApp Files** - Not supported as primary storage (NFS latency too high)
 - **blobfuse2** - Not supported for database workloads
-- **Blob Storage** - Supported for Enterprise replication only, not primary storage
+- **Blob Storage** - Supported for Enterprise replication and cold storage only,
+  not primary storage
 
 ### Networking
 

diff --git a/documentation/deployment/compression-zfs.md b/documentation/deployment/compression-zfs.md
@@ -5,6 +5,22 @@ description:
   How to install ZFS and enable system-level compression for QuestDB.
 ---
 
+:::warning Use Parquet for compression
+
+The preferred way to compress QuestDB data is to convert partitions to
+[Parquet](/docs/concepts/parquet/#data-compression). QuestDB compresses Parquet
+partitions natively and keeps them fully queryable, with no file system
+requirements. In QuestDB Enterprise, a
+[storage policy](/docs/concepts/storage-policy/) converts partitions
+automatically as they age, and can also tier them to object storage. In QuestDB
+open source, convert partitions manually with
+[`ALTER TABLE CONVERT PARTITION`](/docs/concepts/parquet/#converting-to-parquet).
+
+ZFS compression works at the file system level, outside the database. This page
+remains for existing deployments that already run on ZFS.
+
+:::
+
 QuestDB can use [ZFS](https://openzfs.org/wiki/Main_Page) for system-level
 compression, reducing disk usage without application changes.
 

diff --git a/documentation/deployment/docker.md b/documentation/deployment/docker.md
@@ -218,14 +218,6 @@ available on `http://localhost:4000`:
 docker run -v "$(pwd):/var/lib/questdb/conf" -p 4000:4000 questdb/questdb
 ```
 
-:::note
-
-If you wish to use ZFS for your QuestDB deployment, with Docker, then you will need to enable ZFS on the host volume that Docker uses.
-
-Please see the [docker documentation](https://docs.docker.com/storage/storagedriver/zfs-driver/) for more information.
-
-:::
-
 ### Upgrade QuestDB version
 
 It is possible to upgrade your QuestDB instance on Docker when a volume is

diff --git a/documentation/deployment/gcp.md b/documentation/deployment/gcp.md
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ import MinimumHardware from "../../src/components/DRY/_questdb_production_hardwa
 |-----------|-------------|-------|
 | Instance | `c3-standard-4` or `c3-highmem-8` | 4-8 vCPUs, 16-64 GiB RAM |
 | Storage | Hyperdisk Balanced data disk, 300+ GiB | 5000 IOPS / 300 MBps for production |
-| File system | `ext4` | Or `zfs` with `lz4` for on-disk compression |
+| File system | `ext4` | Compression is handled by Parquet, not the file system |
+| Compression | Storage policy with `TO PARQUET` | Add `TO REMOTE` to tier history to GCS (Enterprise) |
 | Ports | 9000, 8812, 9009, 9003 | Restrict to known IPs only |
 
 ---
@@ -76,16 +77,31 @@ cannot be used on `C3` machines smaller than `88 vCPUs`.
 
 **File system:**
 
-Format the data disk as `ext4`. If you need on-disk compression, use `zfs` with
-`lz4` instead, at a small performance cost. See
-[ZFS compression](/docs/deployment/compression-zfs/).
+Format the data disk as `ext4`. QuestDB compresses data itself, so the file
+system does not need to.
+
+**Compression and tiering:**
+
+QuestDB compresses data by storing older partitions as
+[Parquet](/docs/concepts/parquet/#data-compression), which uses `lz4_raw`
+compression by default and stays fully queryable. In QuestDB Enterprise, a
+[storage policy](/docs/concepts/storage-policy/) with a `TO PARQUET` stage
+converts partitions automatically as they age. In QuestDB open source, convert
+them manually with
+[`ALTER TABLE CONVERT PARTITION`](/docs/concepts/parquet/#converting-to-parquet).
+
+For further savings in Enterprise, add a `TO REMOTE` stage so the policy also
+tiers Parquet partitions to Google Cloud Storage
+[cold storage](/docs/concepts/cold-storage/). GCS usually costs less than
+Hyperdisk, the cluster keeps a single copy that every instance reads instead of
+one copy per replica, and history can grow beyond the size of a single disk.
 
 **Unsupported storage:**
 
 - **Filestore** - Not supported as primary storage (NFS latency too high). Use
   for Enterprise replication only (see [Enterprise on GCP](#enterprise-on-gcp)).
 - **Google Cloud Storage** - Not supported as primary storage. Use for
-  Enterprise replication only.
+  Enterprise replication and cold storage only.
 
 ### Networking
 
@@ -282,8 +298,8 @@ gcloud compute ssh questdb-europe-west3 --zone europe-west3-a
 
 Run these commands on the VM over SSH. They assume the attached data disk uses
 the custom device name `questdb-data` and format it as `ext4`, which is the
-recommended default. If you need on-disk compression, format the data disk as
-`zfs` with `lz4` instead. See [ZFS compression](/docs/deployment/compression-zfs/).
+recommended default. To compress data, use Parquet rather than the file system,
+as described in [Compression and tiering](#storage).
 
 :::warning
 The `mkfs.ext4` command erases the target device. Run it only on a new blank

diff --git a/documentation/deployment/hetzner.md b/documentation/deployment/hetzner.md
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ description:
   This document explains what hardware to use, and how to provision QuestDB on Hetzner Cloud with storage volumes and automated backups.
 ---
 
-import FileSystemChoice from "../../src/components/DRY/_questdb_file_system_choice.mdx"
 import MinimumHardware from "../../src/components/DRY/_questdb_production_hardware-minimums.mdx"
 import InterpolateReleaseData from "../../src/components/InterpolateReleaseData"
 import CodeBlock from "@theme/CodeBlock"

diff --git a/documentation/getting-started/capacity-planning.md b/documentation/getting-started/capacity-planning.md
@@ -60,13 +60,7 @@ For optimum performance, utilize the maximum settings:
 
 ### Supported filesystems
 
-To enable compression and to match our recommended performance profile, we
-recommend using [ZFS file system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZFS).
-
-ZFS is required for system-level compression.
-
-While ZFS is recommended, QuestDB open source supports the following
-filesystems:
+QuestDB supports the following filesystems:
 
 - APFS
 - EXT4
@@ -94,10 +88,18 @@ QuestDB database.
 
 ### Data compression
 
-To enable data compression, filesystem must be ZFS.
-
-For instructions on how to do so, see the
-[ZFS and compression](/docs/deployment/compression-zfs/) guide.
+QuestDB compresses data by converting partitions to
+[Parquet](/docs/concepts/parquet/#data-compression), which uses `lz4_raw`
+compression by default and keeps partitions fully queryable. In QuestDB
+Enterprise, a [storage policy](/docs/concepts/storage-policy/) converts
+partitions automatically as they age, and can also tier them to
+[cold storage](/docs/concepts/cold-storage/) in object storage. In QuestDB open
+source, convert partitions manually with
+[`ALTER TABLE CONVERT PARTITION`](/docs/concepts/parquet/#converting-to-parquet).
+
+Compression does not depend on the file system. File-system compression with
+[ZFS](/docs/deployment/compression-zfs/) also works, but Parquet is the
+recommended approach.
 
 ### Write amplification