i have been wanting to learn how to tar a folder in linux

but im newby so i m not sure what command is the correct one to compress, my friend said to use tar instead of zip if i have linux.

i go t a dedicated server from webune over a year ago and now i want to do some backups and acording to my buddy, the best way to back up my files is using tar

but i have no idea how i go about taring my documents

can you help?