A RAR file, just like zip, is an archive file that can contain one or more files and can use a compression algorithm to achieve a smaller file size. Rar, named after its inventor Yevgeny Roschal, stands for Roshal ARchive. The Rar compression algorithm is not free of license fees, so RAR can only be created from the commercial products of the manufacturer Rarlab down to a few commercial alternatives.
However, the Rar archive unpacking algorithm is royalty free, so unpacking a RAR archive is supported by almost any multiformat packager and on a variety of operating systems. To create one needs depending on
Operating system the programs WinRAR (for Windows), RAR for DOS, RAR for Linux, UnRarX for Macintosh.
The Rar format offers archive encryption with AES (up to 256 bit) as well as file name encryption.
So it is not possible for an unauthorized person to unpack the content nor to see from the filenames what the content is. Rar also offers the distribution of large amounts of data into several files, which then end in r00, r01, r02
or also rar.part1, rar.part2 etc. It also offers additional security mechanisms for shared archives.
Since there are different versions of the RAR formats, it may happen that a RAR archive does not appear to be unpackable. In this case you just need a newer version of the unpacking program. If in doubt, you should always try the latest version of the manufacturer's products, of which there are also trial versions.
The Rarformat has despite a mostly much higher compression rate than Zip only a medium distribution on the Internet experience, especially because of the commercial algorithm. On the other hand, Rar learns through the 7-Zip format, which is similarly good and better
Offers compression rates, from free side competition.