title: SHA-256 or MD5 for file integrity
body: <p>I know that SHA-256 is favored over MD5 for security, etc., but, if I am to use a method to only check file integrity (that is, nothing to do with password encryption, etc.), is there any advantage of using SHA-256?</p>
  
  <p>Since MD5 is 128-bit and SHA-256 is 256-bit (therefore twice as big)...</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><p>Would it take up to twice as long to encrypt?</p></li>
  <li><p>Where time is not of essence, like in a backup program, and file integrity is all that is needed, would anyone argue against MD5 for a different algorithm, or even suggest a different technique?</p></li>
  <li><p>Does using MD5 produce a checksum?</p></li>
  </ol>