Can Ghost clone between RAID partitions?

[arkus]

Can ghost clone a partition on a 1/0 RAID array to another partition on the same array? I plan to use Ghost personal edition 2003.

 

[HammerBot]

Yes. You can make an image of one partition and restore it on another. You can also make a disk to disk copy (partition to partition) but then, I think, the partitions must be of the same size.

<i><b>Engineering is the fine art of making what you want from things you can get</b></i>

 

[arkus]

No worries on the partitions having to be the same size. And I've cloned partitions before too. Just wondered if RAID would cause any problems (I know it shouldn't) 'cause an older version of ghost I tried it with before just crashed as soon as it began.

 

[grafixmonkey]

RAID is best used for data that you don't need Ghost to copy (i.e. your project files, email backups, program install folders, etc.) and not for bootable systems, at least that's what I think. You don't want a problem with the array preventing you from booting. (almost happened to me couple weeks ago.)

 

[arkus]

I think that depends on one's usage in all fairness. If you're loading large gfx files then maybe RAID would be beneficial to that. However, I'd only likely be dumping downloaded files or mp3s there - hardly the most efficient use of RAID IMHO.

I agree that it would be a PITA if the array prevented the OS from booting (although so far the HighPoint card I'm using has behaved perfectly, and it is in RAID 1/0 so there is backup built-in, in a sense).

However, to a certain degree, that's why I posted: if I can clone my RAID OS partition using ghost then I don't have that problem. Hopefully I'll have chance to find out this w/e....

 

[arkus]

Ok, the short answer to my own question is NO! So the next question is, what software out there can clone/image a SATA RAID partition from DOS reliably?????

Symantec state:

Ghost does not work with software level RAID.
Although Ghost might work in some limited circumstances with hardware level RAID, Symantec does not support using Ghost for cloning hardware level RAID drives.
Ghost does support cloning drives that have had RAID removed, such as after you break a mirrored set.

For me ghost won't boot in DOS.

Full Article on RAID incompatibility: <A HREF="http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/77f66aec9f5339088825665f005ecd6e/7205dc44f3434700882566f10077bfd2?OpenDocument&prod=&ver=&src=sg&pcode=&svy=&csm=no" target="_new">http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/77f66aec9f5339088825665f005ecd6e/7205dc44f3434700882566f10077bfd2?OpenDocument&prod=&ver=&src=sg&pcode=&svy=&csm=no</A> (Refers specifically to Ghost 4.0, but there are identical documents for all versions).

And older versions also have problems with SATA: <A HREF="http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/97dacc5430d93f2d85256aa300536849/b59d9878ea7fdaf388256cf40072b4ad?OpenDocument&prod=&ver=&src=sg&pcode=&svy=&csm=no" target="_new">http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/97dacc5430d93f2d85256aa300536849/b59d9878ea7fdaf388256cf40072b4ad?OpenDocument&prod=&ver=&src=sg&pcode=&svy=&csm=no</A>.

 

[HammerBot]

Obviously Ghost won't work with software RAID. Since this is rarely used, I didn't consider that you were using that. Apperently (considering your last post) Ghost also have problems with some hardware RAID. Now this is just plain stupid, since the controller takes care of most of it.
I havent used Ghost much. In the past it had some NTFS problems (which are fixed now I believe) so I chose to use powerquest drive image.
I have used PDI for my own RAID array (highpoint, ATA drives) extensively. I friend of mine has a silicon image controller and SATA drives in RAID and has also used PDI often. We have never encountered a single problem. From the programs point of view, the array is simply a single (partitioned) harddrive.

I don't understand why Ghost wont boot for you. At this point in time it doesn't know anything about you drive configuration. You boot problem cannot be related to your RAID array. Try solve that, and Ghost may be able to clone you array (if its hardware based). If you can't make Ghost work, I suggest you use PDI. It works flawlessly.

<i><b>Engineering is the fine art of making what you want from things you can get</b></i>