7z can be used to archive the contents of block devices, such as /dev/sda1 , by piping data from cat or similar commands. Typical Scenarios
7z allows for non-solid mode, which is beneficial when specific files within a large archive need to be accessed quickly, as it reduces the need to decompress the entire archive. K42.7z
Using algorithms like LZ4 is recommended for data that is already compressed, as it prevents inefficient re-compression and speeds up the process, achieving high compression/decompression speeds. 7z can be used to archive the contents
For large file sets, 7z provides multi-core compression, making it faster than many single-threaded alternatives. More details on using 7z with block devices ? such as /dev/sda1