A cyclic redundancy check, or “CRC,” is an error-detecting code common in digital networks and storage devices used to detect changes to raw data. Blocks of data get a short check value attached as they enter one of these systems and on retrieval, the calculation is repeated and if the check values do not match, the system knows there has been data corruption.
The CRC algorithm is based on the remainder of a polynomial division of the raw data’s contents. CRCs are widely used because they are simple to implement in binary hardware, easy to analyze mathematically, and particularly good at detecting common errors caused by noise in transmission channels. CRC code is common in most drives, networks, and high-end digital audio gear to ensure data integrity.