GZ and TAR.GZ explained
Gzip compresses a single file — it is not an archive format and cannot hold multiple files, which is why it is combined with TAR.
A .tar.gz is a TAR archive that has been compressed with gzip — bundling and compression handled by two separate, composable tools.
- Where GZ files come from
- Compressed logs, HTTP transfer encoding and Unix pipelines.
- Where TAR.GZ is used
- Source code releases, Linux packages and server backups.