zipping/gzipping binary data vs. base64 encoded data

# zipping/gzipping binary data vs. base64 encoded data
# tested on debian squeeze, zip 3.0-3, gzip 1.3.12-9

for i in 1 10 100 1024 2048 4096; do
	dd if=/dev/urandom of=test_${i}_bin.bin bs=1k count=$i
	php -r "file_put_contents('test_${i}_base64.txt', base64_encode(file_get_contents('test_${i}_bin.bin')));"
	zip test_${i}_bin.zip test_${i}_bin.bin
	zip test_${i}_base64.zip test_${i}_base64.txt
	cat test_${i}_bin.bin | gzip -c9 > test_${i}_bin.gz
	cat test_${i}_base64.txt | gzip -c9 > test_${i}_base64.gz
	ls -alb test_${i}_*
done

# formated a bit...

1024 test_1_bin.bin
1368 test_1_base64.txt
1202 test_1_bin.zip
1243 test_1_base64.zip
1047 test_1_bin.gz
1077 test_1_base64.gz

10240 test_10_bin.bin
13656 test_10_base64.txt
10420 test_10_bin.zip
10527 test_10_base64.zip
10263 test_10_bin.gz
10359 test_10_base64.gz

102400 test_100_bin.bin
136536 test_100_base64.txt
102602 test_100_bin.zip
103513 test_100_base64.zip
102438 test_100_bin.gz
103343 test_100_base64.gz

1048576 test_1024_bin.bin
1398104 test_1024_base64.txt
1048754 test_1024_bin.gz
1058208 test_1024_base64.zip
1048920 test_1024_bin.zip
1058036 test_1024_base64.gz

2097152 test_2048_bin.bin
2796204 test_2048_base64.txt
2097656 test_2048_bin.zip
2116195 test_2048_base64.zip
2097490 test_2048_bin.gz
2116023 test_2048_base64.gz

4194304 test_4096_bin.bin
5592408 test_4096_base64.txt
4195128 test_4096_bin.zip
4232178 test_4096_base64.zip
4194962 test_4096_bin.gz
4232006 test_4096_base64.gz

# base64 encoded data takes 0.8-2% more space than binary when zipped/gzipped
# note: zipping with "-9" does not make any difference