Optimising the Rsync algorithm for speed by reverting to MD4 hashing

[Nick McCarthy]

Hi,

From v3.0.0 onwards the hash function implemented by Rsync was changed from MD4 to MD5 (http://rsync.samba.org/ftp/rsync/src/rsync-3.0.0-NEWS). My understanding is that MD5 is a more secure, slower version of MD4 but I am not convinced that the added security of MD5 would alone have merited the change from MD4 (particularly since MD4 is ~30% faster than MD5). I wonder if I am missing other reasons which made the change necessary/desirable?

I am looking at ways to optimise Rsync (for speed) hence my interest in this,

Thanks,

Nick

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