mkdir store mnt ./fusearchive.py `pwd`/store `pwd`/mnt Now copy in some files. If you copy the same file over and over then a du in mnt will show it's growing, however a du in store will show much less growth, mostly just for the single fileobject ref. Copying very similar files (such as files that grow over time like databases or logs) will show the growth much more slowly in the storage directory because the redundant chunks will become refs too.