diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 2de3f9b..a79970d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ jobs:
         target:
           - os: linux
             cpu: amd64
-          - os: linux
-            cpu: i386
+          # - os: linux
+          #   cpu: i386
           - os: macos
             cpu: amd64
           - os: windows
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
             shell: bash
           - target:
               os: windows
-            builder: windows-2019
+            builder: windows-latest
             shell: msys2 {0}
 
     defaults:
@@ -188,7 +188,13 @@ jobs:
             # https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth2/issues/3121
             export NIMFLAGS="-d:nimRawSetjmp"
           fi
+
           nim --version
           nimble --version
           nimble install -y --depsOnly
           nimble test
+
+          # static linking is not supported on windows
+          if [[ "${{ matrix.target.os }}" != "windows" ]]; then
+            nimble test_static
+          fi
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8231cca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[submodule "vendor/rocksdb"]
+	path = vendor/rocksdb
+	url = https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb
+	ignore = dirty
+	branch = master
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cb10454..368d6c8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -25,10 +25,10 @@ See [simple_example](examples/simple_example.nim)
 To statically link librocksdb, you would do something like:
 
 ```nim
-nim c -d:LibrocksbStaticArgs='-l:librocksdb.a' --gcc.linkerexe=g++ --threads:on your_program.nim
+nim c -d:rocksdb_static_linking --threads:on your_program.nim
 ```
 
-(we need the C++ linker profile because it's a C++ library)
+See the config.nims file which contains the static linking configuration which is switched on with the `rocksdb_static_linking` flag. Note that static linking is currently not supported on windows.
 
 ### Contribution
 
diff --git a/config.nims b/config.nims
index 1f5d13e..4850a6e 100644
--- a/config.nims
+++ b/config.nims
@@ -11,3 +11,14 @@
 when fileExists("nimble.paths"):
   include "nimble.paths"
 # end Nimble config
+
+when defined(rocksdb_static_linking):
+  # use the C++ linker profile because it's a C++ library
+  when defined(macosx):
+    switch("clang.linkerexe", "clang++")
+  else:
+    switch("gcc.linkerexe", "g++")
+
+  switch("dynlibOverride", "rocksdb")
+  switch("dynlibOverride", "lz4")
+  switch("dynlibOverride", "zstd")
diff --git a/nim.cfg b/nim.cfg
index 4e7b49d..df3b973 100644
--- a/nim.cfg
+++ b/nim.cfg
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
--p:"src"
-
+--threads:on
+--outdir:build
+--hints:off
diff --git a/rocksdb.nim b/rocksdb.nim
index 774ae8b..c857a1d 100644
--- a/rocksdb.nim
+++ b/rocksdb.nim
@@ -8,8 +8,13 @@
 # at your option. This file may not be copied, modified, or distributed except according to those terms.
 
 import
-  ./rocksdb/[backup, columnfamily, rocksdb, rocksiterator],
-  ./rocksdb/[sstfilewriter, transactiondb, writebatch]
+  ./rocksdb/[backup,
+  columnfamily,
+  rocksdb,
+  rocksiterator,
+  sstfilewriter,
+  transactiondb,
+  writebatch]
 
 export
   backup,
diff --git a/rocksdb.nimble b/rocksdb.nimble
index b2e82ea..92ca2bc 100644
--- a/rocksdb.nimble
+++ b/rocksdb.nimble
@@ -8,19 +8,18 @@ mode          = ScriptMode.Verbose
 
 ### Dependencies
 requires "nim >= 1.6",
-         "stew",
+         "results",
          "tempfile",
          "unittest2"
 
-proc test(args, path: string) =
-  if not dirExists "build":
-    mkDir "build"
-  exec "nim " & getEnv("TEST_LANG", "c") & " " & getEnv("NIMFLAGS") & " " & args &
-    " --outdir:build -r --hints:off --threads:on --skipParentCfg " & path
+task clean, "Remove temporary files":
+  exec "rm -rf build"
+  exec "make -C vendor/rocksdb clean"
 
 task test, "Run tests":
-  test "", "tests/test_all.nim"
-  # Too troublesome to install "librocksdb.a" in CI, but this is how we would
-  # test it (we need the C++ linker profile because it's a C++ library):
-  # test "-d:LibrocksbStaticArgs='-l:librocksdb.a' --gcc.linkerexe=g++", "tests/test_all.nim"
+  exec "nim c -r --threads:on tests/test_all.nim"
 
+task test_static, "Run tests after static linking dependencies":
+  when not defined(windows):
+    exec "scripts/build_static_deps.sh"
+  exec "nim c -d:rocksdb_static_linking -r --threads:on tests/test_all.nim"
diff --git a/rocksdb/columnfamily/cfopts.nim b/rocksdb/columnfamily/cfopts.nim
index 174365c..baef797 100644
--- a/rocksdb/columnfamily/cfopts.nim
+++ b/rocksdb/columnfamily/cfopts.nim
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ proc setCreateMissingColumnFamilies*(cfOpts: ColFamilyOptionsRef, flag: bool) =
 
 proc defaultColFamilyOptions*(): ColFamilyOptionsRef =
   let opts = newColFamilyOptions()
+
+  rocksdb_options_set_compression(opts.cPtr, rocksdb_lz4_compression)
+  # rocksdb_options_set_bottommost_compression(opts.cPtr, rocksdb_zstd_compression)
+
   # Enable creating column families if they do not exist
   opts.setCreateMissingColumnFamilies(true)
   return opts
diff --git a/rocksdb/lib/librocksdb.nim b/rocksdb/lib/librocksdb.nim
index b64faef..4d83c33 100644
--- a/rocksdb/lib/librocksdb.nim
+++ b/rocksdb/lib/librocksdb.nim
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@ proc shouldUseNativeLinking(): bool {.compileTime.} =
   when defined(linux):
     return true
 
-const LibrocksbStaticArgs {.strdefine.}: string = ""
-
 type
   rocksdb_t* = object
   rocksdb_backup_engine_t* = object
@@ -114,11 +112,24 @@ type
 
 ##  DB operations
 
-when LibrocksbStaticArgs != "":
+when defined(rocksdb_static_linking):
   {.pragma: importrocks, importc, cdecl.}
-  {.passL: LibrocksbStaticArgs.}
+
+  import std/[os, strutils]
+  const
+    topLevelPath = currentSourcePath.parentDir().parentDir().parentDir()
+    libsDir = topLevelPath.replace('\\', '/') & "/build/lib"
+
   when defined(windows):
     {.passL: "-lshlwapi -lrpcrt4".}
+    {.passL: libsDir & "/rocksdb.lib".}
+    {.passL: libsDir & "/lz4.lib".}
+    {.passL: libsDir & "/zstd.lib".}
+  else:
+    {.passL: libsDir & "/librocksdb.a".}
+    {.passL: libsDir & "/liblz4.a".}
+    {.passL: libsDir & "/libzstd.a".}
+
 else:
   when shouldUseNativeLinking():
     {.pragma: importrocks, importc, cdecl.}
diff --git a/rocksdb/options/backupopts.nim b/rocksdb/options/backupopts.nim
index 444ded5..4fdc0ee 100644
--- a/rocksdb/options/backupopts.nim
+++ b/rocksdb/options/backupopts.nim
@@ -31,8 +31,11 @@ proc cPtr*(engineOpts: BackupEngineOptionsRef): BackupEngineOptionsPtr =
 # TODO: Add setters and getters for backup options properties.
 
 proc defaultBackupEngineOptions*(): BackupEngineOptionsRef {.inline.} =
-  newBackupEngineOptions()
-  # TODO: set prefered defaults
+  let opts = newBackupEngineOptions()
+  rocksdb_options_set_compression(opts.cPtr, rocksdb_lz4_compression)
+  # rocksdb_options_set_bottommost_compression(opts.cPtr, rocksdb_zstd_compression)
+  opts
+
 
 proc close*(engineOpts: BackupEngineOptionsRef) =
   if not engineOpts.isClosed():
diff --git a/rocksdb/options/dbopts.nim b/rocksdb/options/dbopts.nim
index 738b2a3..5be51b3 100644
--- a/rocksdb/options/dbopts.nim
+++ b/rocksdb/options/dbopts.nim
@@ -48,7 +48,11 @@ proc setCreateMissingColumnFamilies*(dbOpts: DbOptionsRef, flag: bool) =
   rocksdb_options_set_create_missing_column_families(dbOpts.cPtr, flag.uint8)
 
 proc defaultDbOptions*(): DbOptionsRef =
-  let opts = newDbOptions()
+  let opts: DbOptionsRef = newDbOptions()
+
+  rocksdb_options_set_compression(opts.cPtr, rocksdb_lz4_compression)
+  # rocksdb_options_set_bottommost_compression(opts.cPtr, rocksdb_zstd_compression)
+
   # Optimize RocksDB. This is the easiest way to get RocksDB to perform well:
   opts.setIncreaseParallelism(countProcessors())
   # This requires snappy - disabled because rocksdb is not always compiled with
diff --git a/scripts/build_static_deps.sh b/scripts/build_static_deps.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..8d617ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build_static_deps.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Nim-RocksDB
+# Copyright 2018-2024 Status Research & Development GmbH
+# Licensed under either of
+#
+#  * Apache License, version 2.0, ([LICENSE-APACHE](LICENSE-APACHE) or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
+#  * GPL license, version 2.0, ([LICENSE-GPLv2](LICENSE-GPLv2) or https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html)
+#
+# at your option. This file may not be copied, modified, or distributed except according to those terms.
+
+set -e
+
+cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"/..
+
+REPO_DIR="${PWD}"
+ROCKSDB_LIB_DIR="${REPO_DIR}/vendor/rocksdb"
+BUILD_DEST="${REPO_DIR}/build/lib"
+
+
+
+[[ -z "$NPROC" ]] && NPROC=2 # number of CPU cores available
+
+git submodule update --init
+
+export DISABLE_WARNING_AS_ERROR=1
+
+export ROCKSDB_DISABLE_SNAPPY=1
+export ROCKSDB_DISABLE_ZLIB=1
+export ROCKSDB_DISABLE_BZIP=1
+
+export PORTABLE=1
+export DEBUG_LEVEL=0
+
+make -C "${ROCKSDB_LIB_DIR}" -j${NPROC} liblz4.a libzstd.a --no-print-directory > /dev/null
+
+export EXTRA_CFLAGS="-fpermissive -Wno-error -w -I${ROCKSDB_LIB_DIR}/lz4-1.9.4/lib -I${ROCKSDB_LIB_DIR}/zstd-1.5.5/lib -DLZ4 -DZSTD"
+export EXTRA_CXXFLAGS="-fpermissive -Wno-error -w -I${ROCKSDB_LIB_DIR}/lz4-1.9.4/lib -I${ROCKSDB_LIB_DIR}/zstd-1.5.5/lib -DLZ4 -DZSTD"
+
+make -C "${ROCKSDB_LIB_DIR}" -j${NPROC} static_lib --no-print-directory > /dev/null
+
+#cat "${REPO_DIR}/vendor/rocksdb/make_config.mk"
+
+mkdir -p "${BUILD_DEST}"
+
+cp "${ROCKSDB_LIB_DIR}/liblz4.a" "${BUILD_DEST}/"
+cp "${ROCKSDB_LIB_DIR}/libzstd.a" "${BUILD_DEST}/"
+cp "${ROCKSDB_LIB_DIR}/librocksdb.a" "${BUILD_DEST}/"
diff --git a/vendor/rocksdb b/vendor/rocksdb
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..a66daec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vendor/rocksdb
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit a66daec5410683c0f66e7759b425631ffbfd8677