Linux sftp Renaming during file transfer

Question

Hi,

I just want to confirm something I noticed when downloading a file through sftp on linux. I renamed the file (mv file.tar.gz newfile.tar.gz) during the transfer (usually would wait to transfer was complete) and the download kept going. Im I right to be amazed?

How did this happen, and surely you cant do this on windows.

--Mark

Answer 1

That's normal on most (if not all) POSIX systems. Rename operation changes only the name of file in directory entry, the inode (‘serial’) number remains the same and that number is used with I/O.