Checksum

A checksum is a form of redundancy check for data. It is a simple way to protect the integrity of data by detecting errors that can occur when it has been moved or copied from its original location to another. It works by adding up the basic components of the data and storing the resulting value. Once the data has been copied or moved to another location, the data can be verified by creating a second checksum and comparing it to the original. If the values match, the data is good.

Checksums are commonly used in the audio industry to ensure that digital audio being transmitted across networks or physically copied from one location to another (hard drives, optical media, etc.) is the same when it reaches its destination. An MD5 checksum is an example of this.