Archive
1. <file format> A single file containing one or (usually) more separate files plus information to allow them to be extracted (separated) by a suitable program.
Archives are usually created for software distribution or
backup.
tar is a common format for
Unix archives, and
arc or
PKZIP for
MS-DOS and
Microsoft Windows.
2. <operating system> To transfer files to slower, cheaper media (usually
magnetic tape) to free the
hard disk space they occupied.
This is now normally done for long-term storage but in the 1960s, when disk was much more expensive, files were often shuffled regularly between disk and tape.
3. <networking>
archive site.
