[Tile-serving] osm2pgsql - Disk usage

[JunkMail]

Hi everyone,

I've been importing the planet pbf using osm2pgsql over the past few 
days, to use for a tile server. The server I am using has 8GB of RAM and 
a 480GB SSD. I also have a 128GB USB stick plugged in, which I am using 
for swap. I am importing with the --flatfile, --slim, and --drop flags.

I have imported all of the nodes, ways, and routes. Currently, it is 
"sorting data and creating indexes". However, I am quickly running out 
of disk space. I have already deleted the pbf file(will this cause 
issues? I assumed it was no longer needed) and only have 15GB remaining. 
I worry I will run out of space before it completes.

At this point of the import, am I safe to delete the flat file? Using 
fuser, I found that there are no processes accessing it.


I have two other(significantly less urgent) questions. First of all, is 
it possible to use nginx instead of apache for serving tiles? I looked 
for an alternative to mod_tile but couldn't find one. Second of all, I 
plan on moving the server from the SSD to an HDD after the import is 
complete. Will I experience disk bottlenecks when serving tiles off the 
disk? I will not be updating the database in the future.

Thanks,

Stephen D