For example, a group of computers with similar hardware can be set up much quicker by cloning the configuration. Some hardware cloners can clone only the used space but tend to be much more expensive.Īpplications Deployment Ī common use of disk cloning is for deployment. Most hardware-based cloners typically require for the destination drive to be the same size as the source drive even if only a fraction of the space is used. For example, the filesystem and partitions can be resized by the software allowing data to be cloned to a drive equal to or greater than the total used space. However, software cloners tend to allow for greater flexibility because they can exclude unwanted data from being duplicated reducing cloning time. A hardware-based drive cloner can be used which does not require a computer. Once connected, a disk cloner is used to perform the clone itself. Typically, the destination drive is connected to a computer (Fig. The data is then either written directly to another (destination) drive or to a disk image.
A small amount of data is read and then held in the computer's memory. While called "disk cloning", any type of storage medium that connects to the computer via USB, NVMe or SATA can be cloned. Drive cloning can be used in conjunction with drive imaging where the cloned data is saved to one or more files on another drive rather than copied directly to another drive.īackground Figure 1: An illustration of connecting two drives to a computer to clone one drive (the source drive) to another (the destination) drive.ĭisk cloning occurs by copying the contents of a drive called the source drive. Common reasons for cloning a drive include data backup and recovery duplicating a computer's configuration for mass deployment and for preserving data for digital forensics purposes. Unlike file copying, disk cloning also duplicates the filesystems, partitions, drive meta data and slack space on the drive. Process of duplicating all data on a digital storage driveĭisk cloning is the process of duplicating all data on a digital storage drive, such as a hard disk or solid state drive, using hardware or software techniques.
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