Back up SSD to HDD so it is bootable

aurora446 · Mar 26, 2014

So i will soon have an SSD for my OS. I have a bunch of old 1 TB HDDs lying around doing nothing. I want to know if there is a way to mirror or clone the SSD to an HDD so in the event of a failure I can just switch boot devices and have no down time.

I currently use RAID 10 with 4 HDDs and value the convenience of being able to work through hard drive failures (had a couple) with basically no down time at all. Any ideas n how to recreate this with an SSD is welcome.

Someone Somewhere · Mar 26, 2014

You'll need to clone the drive, either using the linux command line tool dd or some other tool.

I would strongly recommend not being booted off the drive while doing this. Boot off a liveCD/USB.

Assuming that the SSD is /dev/sda and the HDD you want to clone onto is /dev/sdb (this drive will be erased. Data recovery won't get anything off the first section of the size of the SSD):

Code:

sudo dd bs=16M if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb

aurora446 · Mar 26, 2014

Someone Somewhere :

You'll need to clone the drive, either using the linux command line tool dd or some other tool.

I would strongly recommend not being booted off the drive while doing this. Boot off a liveCD/USB.

Assuming that the SSD is /dev/sda and the HDD you want to clone onto is /dev/sdb (this drive will be erased. Data recovery won't get anything off the first section of the size of the SSD):

Code:

sudo dd bs=16M if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb

Firstly, thanks for your prompt response.

I looked into Acronis for performing a clone as you suggested. Could I set it up to do a new clone every 2 weeks for example so it keeps up to date with new apps I install without me doing anything manually?

Also would there be any problem with having two bootable devices in the machine both using the same windows license?

Finally I don't know what /dev/sda and /dev/sdb are. I assume you mean the HDD will be the drive that is erased prior to the clone which is fine.

Someone Somewhere · Mar 26, 2014

/dev/sdX is Linux's way of assigning names to physical HDDs. /dev/sda is the first drive, /dev/sdb the second, and so on. Yes, the HDD would be erased when you clone the SSD onto it. My point is that you want to make sure you don't get the names wrong...

No problem with multiple bootable drives.

However, automating is tough. I wouldn't want it to be in Windows when copying (because copying open files is a bad idea, and copying a running OS is worse). I'm not sure how you'd go about it.

aurora446 · Mar 26, 2014

Someone Somewhere :

Thanks that clears it up. It seems there isn't a good way to replicate something similar to the RAID 1 I have now. Disappointing.

Someone Somewhere · Mar 26, 2014

There is, but it really has to happen while the PC is dormant. Scheduling is the issue.

aurora446 · Mar 26, 2014

Someone Somewhere :

I think Acronis can do scheduled images, and I would just need to do a brief restore operation in the vent of a failure. It's a reasonable alternative. Not that much hassle really.

Someone Somewhere · Mar 26, 2014

I'm not sure how much I'd trust any image done while the OS is running, though.

aurora446 · Mar 26, 2014

Someone Somewhere :

It does have a function to create the image while the OS isn't running using a boot CD. Is that really much safer?

Someone Somewhere · Mar 26, 2014

A whole lot. Because stuff can't get modified while the OS isn't running.

aurora446 · Mar 26, 2014

Someone Somewhere :

Ok thanks a lot. I will go with the boot CD method.

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