Multi-core compression on Linux

Currently most machines have two or more nuclei. Therefore, if faster compression is desired, compression tools can be used. multi-core compressionIn this article we present some and a brief example how to use them.

pigz

pigz: gz compressor (gzip)

Compress:

pigz -c file

Decompress:

pigz -d file

Pigz deletes the original file after unzipping it. To prevent it from doing so, add the -k parameter. Also, to recursively compress subdirectories, if they exist, you need to add the -r parameter.

More info: http://zlib.net/pigz/

Pxz

pxz: LZMA compressor (xz)

Compress:

pxz original_file final_file

With the -T parameter you can limit the number of cores to use. For example, T4 limits compression using 4 cores only. It is also important to mention that pxz deletes the original file. To prevent it from doing so, add the -k parameter.

Decompress:

pxz -d file

More info: http://jnovy.fedorapeople.org/pxz/

pbzip2

pbzip2: bz2 compressor (bzip2):

Compress:

pbzip2 -z file

With the -l parameter you can limit the number of cores to use. It is also important to mention that pbzip2 deletes the original file. To prevent it from doing so, add the -k parameter.

Decompress:

lrzip -d file

More info: http://compression.ca/pbzip2/

plzip

plzip: lz compressor (lzip)

Compress:

plzip -c file

plzip deletes the original file. To prevent it from doing so, you must add the -k parameter.

Decompress:

lrzip -d file

More info: http://www.nongnu.org/lzip/plzip.html

lrzip

lrzip: lrz compressor (lrzip)

Compress:

lrzip file

To improve compression and use ZPAQ:

lrzip -z file

For quick compression:

lrzip -l file

To compress a directory:

lrztar directory

Decompress:

lrzip file.lrz

To unzip a compressed directory:

lrzuntar file.tar.lrz

More info: http://ck.kolivas.org/apps/lrzip/

Almost all of the above programs are found in the official repositories of popular Linux distributions. In Arch's case, some of them are in the AUR.