Archiving, or file compression, is a special process that involves reducing the amount of free space on the drive that the file occupies. Today, there is a fairly wide variety of special utilities for data compression. However, many do not even understand what an archive is. What is archive and archiving, we will consider in this article.
It should be noted right away that the article is about computer archives, and not about departmental or any other. A departmental archive is a topic for a separate article, since it has nothing to do with a virtual one.
What is an archive?
Many people do not even know what advantages the process in question differs. For those who are wondering: “Archive - what is it and why is it needed?” - There is a fairly simple explanation.
The archive is a kind of analogue of the folder in which several files are stored. However, in order to open these files or copy them to some other folder, you first need to unzip. Which sometimes takes a fairly large amount of time. It is worth noting that the time it takes to extract files from a particular archive directly depends on how the archiving is carried out, how powerful the computer is, and how much files will be extracted.
Why archive?
Increasing the available data volume is the main purpose of the archive. What is the volume of data and how important it is for modern users, is hardly necessary for someone to explain. Indeed, even the constant development of modern drives and all kinds of storage media does not allow to satisfy the needs of many people.
The second purpose of the archive is to simplify data transfer. Today, not everyone has the Internet at a high enough speed for fast file transfers, so their volume is of great importance. Given that in the predominant majority of cases, information is downloaded through specialized file hosting services, it takes double time to transfer files from one computer to another. First, to download to the exchanger, and then to download directly to the user's computer.
That is why it is much easier to transfer files by first placing them in a standard archive. What is an archive is already mentioned above.
How to archivate?
To date, there is no difficulty in finding specialized archivers, each of which has its own set of features. Some include only basic functions, while others provide more options, including checking files for all kinds of viruses or the ability to view various types of information without extracting it from the archive. It should be noted that a sufficiently large number of programs offers the user to select a specific compression ratio, forming the so-called self-extracting archives.
The most common archive options today are considered to be such as Zip and RAR. Such archivers are initially installed on almost all computers and at the same time are actively developing.
Data extraction and archiving
The user has the opportunity to completely choose the name for his future archive, as well as determine which extension and compression method are better to use. The archive contains a certain number of files and various folders, and for unpacking you just need to specify the path to the folder into which the extraction will be performed. As mentioned above, some modern programs provide the ability to preview certain files in read-only mode.
Recently, such a specialized function as the creation of self-extracting archives has been widely used. A self-extracting archive file is a specialized type that allows you to extract files without using any additional utilities. Indeed, today far from all computers are installed archivers, so you need to somehow provide the ability to extract information to such users. By itself, this option is a standard .exe file that includes directly encrypted data, as well as a special installation module.
How to restore archives after they are damaged?
A document archive is far from the safest option for storing a large amount of information. Since, due to various reasons, such a situation may occur that it will be damaged and it will be impossible to extract files from it. In the overwhelming majority of cases, such problems arise because the user lost the connection during the downloading of the archive or the archive was damaged due to exposure to a standard virus program.
Modern developers were able to overcome this situation by using the special function “Leave damaged files on disk”, as well as another additional function - “Add information for recovery”. Thus, it is possible to significantly increase the chances that in the end the unpacking of the archive will be successful and the user will be able to use the data he needs.
How to protect against unauthorized access?
Another useful and quite popular feature is the use of passwords, which protect the archive from prying eyes, excluding the possibility of viewing it. At the same time, it will not be possible to unpack it, providing effective protection of confidential and commercial information. Thus, you can archive certain data not only in order to reduce its volume or simplify transportation, but also to hide it from prying eyes. This is especially recommended for those people who store important confidential information on a work computer when there is a risk that someone else might see it.
Continuous archive
Among other things, special attention should be paid to such a type as a continuous archive. A continuous archive on a computer is a collection of files that represent a sequential stream of information. In this case, the compression ratio increases by an order of magnitude . But at the same time, updating, as well as subsequent unpacking of the archive is carried out for a longer time. And you need to understand correctly that if one of the files in such an archive receives any damage, then in this case there will no longer be the possibility of information recovery. For this reason, it is best to archive in such a way that information can ultimately be restored.
Thus, continuous archiving is rarely used by modern companies. An organization’s archive is first and foremost a safe repository of information that will be protected from accidental deletion, as well as prying eyes, so using a continuous archive in this role, which can ultimately completely destroy files, is far from the best option.