The NZB file is the short form for newzbin file with an extension of .nzb; Newzbin.com invented the NZB file. The file contains a list of pointers to the parts of the file which the users can download from their ISP’s Usenet server(also referred as NNTP servers). The file is based on the XML file format for retrieving the data from Usenet Server.
When large file on the Usenet Newsgroup server is placed or posted then the file is divided into multiple messages known as segments. Each Usenet consists of a unique identifier called the “Messenger ID” and each Segment has its own unique message ID for easy identification of the file. The NZB file capable client reads the Message ID from the file and decodes it after downloading. The message is decoded back in the binary file format by using yEnc or Uuencode. This method helps for quick retrieval of file and makes it easy for the user to download it at faster speed without wasting much time.
Once the entire sub sets of files are downloaded, the files can be opened by software like the SuperNZB for speedy retrieval. The main advantage of using SuperNZB is that it ignores any kind of macros in the file.
The search capable websites prefer to use NZB because these websites create NZB files out of the data which is needed to be downloaded. Most of the sites prefer to opt for NZB as they are quick and easy to download, have more efficient bandwidth and they can easily format data rather than web pages.