Files can be sent using data compression. This shortens transmission times and saves costs. However, do note that compression and decompression produce extra CPU load in the receive processor.
openFT is able to use two compression methods - zip compression (with openFT partners as of V10) and byte compression. Both of these can be used to reduce the volume of data for transfer. However, compressing and decompressing the data increases CPU demand and consequently also the time required for a request before and after data transfer itself.
On "fast" lines (as of approximately 10 Mbit), the overall execution time of a request normally is not significantly improved by compression. On "slow" lines (less than1Mbit), zip compression may help enhance performance. Byte compression is worthwhile when transferring files which contain a large number of byte repetitions (e.g. lists with blanks for column alignment, dumps with numerous zeros). If the partner does not support compression, openFT transfers the file uncompressed. openFT-FTP supports byte compression as described in RFC959.
Data compression is not supported on transfers to FTAM partners.