A hardware data compressor that compresses an input block of characters by replacing strings of characters in the input block with back pointers to matching strings earlier in the input block. A hash table is used in searching for the matching strings in the input block. A plurality of hash index generators each employs a different hashing algorithm on an initial portion of the strings of characters to be replaced to generate a respective index. The hardware data compressor also includes an indication of a type of the input block of characters. A selector selects the index generated by of one of the plurality hash index generators to index into the hash table based on the type of the input block.