NZB (file format)
NZB is a file format used to store information about Usenet posts that contain files. The Usenet discussion forum, which is distributed around the world, is also used to offer and download files. The part of the Usenet that is basically only used for this purpose is also called binary Usenet , because of the binary files ("binaries") that can be found there differently from other text-based Usenet. Since there are size restrictions for individual Usenet posts , files above a certain size are distributed over several individual posts . An NZB file contains references to all individual contributions that are necessary to decode the file and is therefore a kind of index .
NZB search engines
Special search engines allow files to be found by their name or other properties such as the file type or the size in bytes. If matching files are found, an NZB file can then be downloaded for this file. Certain news readers can then download the articles in a targeted manner and merge the file on the local computer.
By using such search engines and NZB files, the user avoids time-consuming and bandwidth-consuming downloading of all newsgroup headers that are of topical interest to him. Instead, interesting files are found using the search engine and then only the relatively compact NZB file needs to be downloaded.
Some service providers immediately offer the decoded binary files via a common HTTP download, so that the user no longer comes into contact with Usenet-specific programs.
technology
NZB files are implemented as XML dialect.
The message ID values of all necessary contributions for a file are stored in an NZB file. In addition, the newsgroups in which these contributions were sent, the name of the author and the date and time of sending are mentioned.
NZB files are created by programs that have access to newsgroups and that regularly search for attachments in the new posts.
etymology
NZB was originally defined by the operators of the Newzbin.com website. The term NZB is short for Newzbin.