The Sysadmin’s Daily Grind: Zsync

VIVE LA DIFFERENCE

Article from Issue 72/2006
Author(s):

Zsync handles a special case: large volume download files that change frequently but not drastically. Charly shows how this handy file fetcher can save you time and bandwidth.

Zsync – the name is reminiscent of Rsync, the Swiss Army knife of file transfers. The Rsync algorithm is at Zsync’s core, but Zsync has a different purpose. Whereas Rsync synchronizes whole filesystem trees, Zsync focuses on downloading single, bulk files. Imagine a company has tailored a Linux distribution to suit its own needs. They upload an ISO file of the distribution to their Intranet server. Whenever an administrator needs to set up a new PC, they just download the distribution from the server. This is something that occurs quite regularly, as the distribution is updated continually.

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