misc/buffer 1.17.1p1 OpenBSD

Buffer reads from standard input reblocking to the given blocksize and writes each block to standard output.

Internally, buffer is a pair of processes communicating via a large circular queue held in shared memory. This means you *must* have a kernel with

options SYSVSHM

compiled in. The reader process only has to block when the queue is full and the writer process when the queue is empty. Buffer is designed to try and keep the writer side continuously busy so that it can stream when writing to tape drives. When used to write tapes with an intervening network, buffer can result in a considerable increase in throughput.

• Christian "naddy" Weisgerber <[email protected]>