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On 2004年9月02日 11:01:29 -0400 David Richardson <dgr24@drexel.edu> wrote: > I have a linux machine that I would like to be able to completely > restore to its current configuration in the event of a hard drive > failure. I'd like to be able to just pop in a new hard drive, and have > it magically work like the old one without the need to manually install > or configure software. > > I was thinking about just using dd to copy the entire hard drive on the > currently working machine to a file and then if I ever need to put in a > new drive just using dd to write the contents of the old drive onto the > new drive. Is it a problem if the new drive is a different size than > the old? Or does anyone have a suggest of a better way? > > Thanks, > Dave Hi DD: I wouldnt dd an entire disk, it could be dependent on the disk geometry (better make sure the disks have the exact geometry). how about dd just the partitions. the downside is how often do you want to dd the disk. software raid: I think is a good idea. You dont even have to have the same disks. For example, software raid level 1: 80 gigs 120 gigs size example device partition1 partition1 40gigs /dev/md0 parition2 partition2 20gigs /dev/md1 partition3 partition3 20 gigs /dev/md2 parition 4 swap swap partition5 60 gigs /dev/hdg5 something like this is possible (in the above example you dont need to protect swap or hdg5, for example /dev/hdg5 might be /tmp). in fact this is what i did on my home server till i got tired of it and reverted back to non-raid (long story). or you could just put exact same disks and do a raid level 1 on them--note that software raid works with partitions (not disks). in the event of one drive failing, you'll need to partiton the replacement disk similar to the old one, probably configure the raid setup again (i dont remember exactly), and reinsert the new disk (raidhotadd, I think). There is still some work to do, but fortunately your data will still be surviving on one or the other disk. if your doing software raid, and if you have IDE, its best to put the disks each on its own cable (master/slave for raid components is not recomended). so a separate inexepensive ide controller is a good idea. This wont protect you from errors (e.g. if you delete files accidentaly the raid disks will do it faithfully), only from media failures--replace one or the other disk at signs of drives failing. jondz ___________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug