Archivers Benchmark

Written by Michael D.

Here are some test results we've gathered from some archiving software benchmarks. Since there are many archivers on the internet waiting for your download, we thought to try to get the most important ones and try a benchmark on them. **Please note that all tests were done on software designed for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Firstly, what are archivers? An archiver (like the popular WinZip or WinRar) is a program that uses an algorithm to make the file's size smaller. Basically, it takes a file for an input (let's say the string "My dog is very smart. I love my dog very much.). For it's output it defines some dictionary rules. In our example, let's put "my"=1, "dog"=2 and "very"=3. The output string will then be "1 2 is 3 smart. I love 1 2 3 much". This text has fewer characters, decreasing the number of bits it needs for storage as digital data. Of course, the algorithms used by packing and unpacking software are very complex, making sure no errors will be induced during the processing. This involves a solid dictionary and CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Checks). So how did we test the programs? Firstly, two criteria were picked: the time of the compression and the size of the output file. We used normal compression methods for all of the tested programs, because you can usually choose from: - Storage packing - it stores all the data in one file with no compression involves; it's used to create an "image" of a directory or number of files for easier organization. - Normal packing - optimized time vs. compression settings - Strong packing - best compression possible, but includes more processor usage and longer processing times We packed with all the programs we tested two things: a) a directory (Cygwin application) that has 4890 files inside and a total size of 49mB b) a game file (from a game engine) that has a size of 19mB So the top five archiving programs are: 1. 7zip ( Freeware, download it from http://www.7-zip.org/ ) For this program, we used two of it's compression engines since is the best in our tests: - file extension *.7z a) Cygwin - total time: 2 minutes, 5 seconds - total size: 10,7mB b) Game file - total time: 40 seconds - total size: 15,9mB - file extension *.zip a) Cygwin - total time: 1 minute, 3 seconds - total size: 19,2mB b) Game file - total time: 18 seconds - total size: 17,9mB 2. WinAce ( Licensed, get a trial from http://www.winace.com/ ) - file extension *.ace a) Cygwin - total time: 2 minutes, 22 seconds - total size: 12,7mB b) Game file - total time: 39 seconds - total size: 16,4mB 3. WinRar ( Licensed, get a trial from http://www.rarlab.com/ ) - file extension *.rar a) Cygwin - total time: 1 minute, 30 seconds - total size: 17,6mB b) Game file - total time: 36 seconds - total size: 16,9mB 4. WinZip ( Licensed, get a trial from http://www.winzip.com/ ) - file extension *.zip a) Cygwin - total time: 1 minute, 22 seconds - total size: 19,8mB b) Game file - total time: 27 seconds - total size: 18,2mB 5. FilZip ( Freeware, download it from http://www.filzip.com/ ) - file extension *.zip a) Cygwin - total time: 3 minutes, 40 seconds - total size: 19,2mB b) Game file - total time: 55 seconds - total size: 17,6mB Backup PostgreSQL database and send backup to email on Linux In this tutorial you will learn how to create a simple BASH Script that backs up your PostgreSQL databases, creates an archive with the date appended to the archive name and then sends this archive to your e-mail address or. Subscribe now via RSS feed and get all the new tutorials Do you need more help? Ask now! Comment Name Email Website   Add Comment Trackback(0) Comments (0)

Last Updated ( Saturday, 19 May 2007 )