Data Compression Algorithms

TIBCO MFT Platform Server for z/OS supports three compression algorithms: RLE (Run Length Encoding), LZ (Limpel Ziv), and ZLIB.

RLE Compression

RLE compression is data dependent; that is, the compression ratio of RLE compression might vary widely based on the type of data being compressed. Use RLE compression if the network bandwidth is not a critical bottleneck for your network and you must save CPU cycles. RLE compression is the default compression algorithm of the platform server.

The advantages and disadvantages of RLE compression are as follows:

  • Advantages of RLE
    • This algorithm is fast and uses less CPU cycles.
    • This algorithm is suitable for compressing data containing repeating characters such as spaces or nulls.
  • Disadvantages of RLE
    • This algorithm is not suitable for compressing binary files which contain few repeating characters.
    • This algorithm typically does not compress data as well as ZLIB compression.

LZ Compression

LZ compression can compress a variety types of data. Use LZ compression, if you want better compression ratio and can spare CPU cycles.

The advantage and disadvantages of LZ compression are as follows:
  • Advantage of LZ
    • This algorithm provides better compression ratio than RLE compression. It can compress text files at a ratio of 2:1 or more.
  • Disadvantages of LZ
    • This algorithm consumes more CPU cycles than RLE or ZLIB Compression.
    • This algorithm is not suitable for compressing binary files which contain few repeating strings due to the CPU overhead of LZ Compression and decompression. We do not suggest LZ Compression. ZLIB is a better compression choice.

ZLIB Compression

ZLIB compression consists of 9 compression levels. Level 1 provides fast compression but low compression ratio. Levels 7 - 9 produce the best compression quality but are slower. Typically, level 2 offers the best compromise between compression quality and speed.

The advantages and disadvantages of ZLIB compression are as follows:
  • Advantages of ZLIB
    • This algorithm provides various levels of compression and CPU utilization.
    • This algorithm compresses data better than RLE compression and LZ compression.
    • This algorithm uses less CPU cycles than LZ compression.
    • This algorithm decompresses data more efficiently than LZ compression.
  • Disadvantages of ZLIB
    • This algorithm uses more CPU cycles than RLE compression.
    • This algorithm is not suitable for compressing binary files which contain few repeating strings.