[CentOS] [Slightly OT] Data Preservation

[Les Mikesell]

ML wrote:
> HI All,
> 
> So I have 5 1U servers (running Windows) that have Ultra 320 SCSI  
> Drives in them.
> 
> The owner of these boxes wants the drives captured in their current  
> states to .iso or .cdr or something where if the need arises the data  
> can be viewed, used again, etc.
> 
> So what is the best approach? Boot from a Live CD, hook up a USB  
> external HD and do what? Can I create a .iso or .cdr (or some other  
> portable format) and have it created on the external USB?
> 
> Thoughts on this process would be appreciated.

A simple way would be to download/burn a clonezilla-live iso, boot the 
servers with it and do a disk->image copy.  If you have some other 
machine on the network with sufficient space, it will let you connect 
via nfs, ssh, or to a windows share - or it should hand a locally 
connected usb drive if you are careful about picking the source and 
destination.  It understands most filesystems well enough to only copy 
the used space and you can reverse the process to restore.  I don't 
believe there is a way to view the file content in the stored image 
format, though, so you would have to restore to a similar drive/machine 
if you need that.

-- 
   Les Mikesell
     lesmikesell at gmail.com