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Re: Regarding tar and split



Sean Zimmermann <svz90@pipeline.com>:
>  Paul E Condon <pecondon <at> mesanetworks.net> writes:
> > 
> > The difference is that afio compresses each input file individually, so
> > if there is a read/write error, only one file is lost from the archive.
> 
>  I have one final question: some people have brought up the strength of 
>  programs like afio that compress files individually to protect against 
>  corruption. Most of the things I archive are large image or movie files
>  (which typically don't compress well). I read through most of both
>  tar's and afio's man pages, and afio seems to have some interesting
>  features (like the ability to seek to blocks in an archive). If I 
>  am not compressing the archive, does afio and/or cpio still have 
>  benefits that make it more appealing than tar?

afio does notice that certain file types are already compressed and
doesn't bother trying to compress them again.  You can also choose a
minimum file size to compress (if little will be gained from
compressing it).  And, -P lets you choose the compression program.  I
use bzip2.  I've seen others pipe it through gpg for encryption.

I've been using afio for close to a decade and never lost anything,
but I'm sure others can say the same for tar.


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