Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:06:57 -0400 From: Jerry McAllister <jerrymc@msu.edu> To: Brad Mettee <bmettee@pchotshots.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: clone a drive, no raid involved Message-ID: <20080619170657.GA67933@gizmo.acns.msu.edu> In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.7.2.20080619115705.02c0f750@mail.agoron.net> References: <4.3.2.7.2.20080619115705.02c0f750@mail.agoron.net>
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On Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 12:08:34PM -0400, Brad Mettee wrote: > I'm setting up a pair of machines with almost identical OS config, and > completely identical hardware. One is a primary DNS server, the other is > secondary. NS1 will also serve web, NS2 will be a mail server. Both are low > volume/loads. > > It looks like I can use DD to copy an entire drive, but it's a 500G drive > and that's going to take a really long time (especially since it's brand > new with no data besides base OS). > > My question: Is there a better way to duplicate a drive including boot info? Really, the better way is to use fdisk/bsdlabel/newfs to create the identical file systems and boot/label blocks. Then use dump(8) piped to restore(8) to populate them with the data from the old file systems. It is generally better than making a byte-by-byte copy with dd unless you are experimenting with some oddities of unformatted disk access or whatever. Also, using dump/restore will allow for those small differences from disk to disk that are usually there without causing the problems dd copies of whole disks can have. ////jerry > > Brad Mettee > PC HotShots, Inc. > Baltimore, MD > (410) 426-7617 > > -> Let us bring out the *Power* of your PCs. <- > -> Custom Business Software Solutions since 1991 <- > > visit http://www.pchotshots.com for information about our company. > > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"
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