Observed Signal · Apr 5, 2026 · Technical Release · Source: DEV Community · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
fast-copy: faster file copy CLI using disk offsets
A systems engineer published fast-copy, an open-source Python CLI and standalone binary that accelerates file copying by resolving files' physical disk offsets and reading them sequentially. The tool uses platform-specific APIs (FIEMAP on Linux, fcntl on macOS, FSCTL on Windows), deduplicates files via xxHash-128 (with SHA-256 fallback) and hard-links duplicates, and maintains a SQLite hash DB to skip already-copied files. For remote transfers it streams ~100 MB tar batches over raw SSH (running tar xf - remotely) to avoid SFTP overhead and support Local→Remote, Remote→Local and Remote→Remote modes. Benchmarks on a 92K-file dataset show large speed and I/O savings versus cp/rsync/SFTP. Source code is on GitHub (gekap/fast-copy) under an Apache 2.0 license.
Technical release that offers significant performance and I/O savings for large/many-file copy and backup workflows; useful to systems engineers and ops teams but niche and not industry-shifting for AdTech/MarTech.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- fast-copy is an open-source Python CLI (standalone binaries also available) that copies files by resolving physical disk offsets and reading sequentially.
- Platform APIs used: FIEMAP on Linux, fcntl on macOS, and FSCTL on Windows to determine file block positions.
- Deduplication: hashes files with xxHash-128 (SHA-256 fallback), copies unique files once, creates hard links for duplicates, and stores hashes in a SQLite DB to skip previously copied files.
- SSH tar streaming: sends chunked ~100 MB tar batches over raw SSH with the remote running 'tar xf -', avoiding SFTP overhead and supporting three transfer modes (Local→Remote, Remote→Local, Remote→Remote).
- Benchmarks on 92K files: local to USB — 509.8 MB written, 378.9 MB saved, completed in 17.9s (~28.5 MB/s); remote to local over LAN — 509.8 MB downloaded in 14 minutes and reported ~3x faster than SFTP.
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