A key feature of a backup program is to allow the retrieval of individual files without needing to restore the entire backup. This allows a single image to be sent simultaneously to many machines without putting greater stress on the network than sending an image to a single machine.Īlthough disk cloning programs are not primarily backup programs, they are sometimes used as such. The solution is to use multicast technology. As disk images tend to be very large (usually a minimum of several hundred MB), performing several clones at a time puts excessive stress on a network. Disk cloning programs can link two computers by a parallel cable, or save and load images to an external USB drive or network drive.

The simplest method of cloning a disk is to have both the source and destination disks present in the same machine, but this is often not possible. Cloning software contains its own TCP/IP stack for multicast transfer of data where required. This applies to tape drives, CD and DVD readers and writers, and USB and FireWire drives. The manufacturers of some devices do not provide suitable drivers, so the manufacturers of disk cloning software must write their own drivers, or include device access functionality in some other way. Many programs can clone a disk, or make an image, from within the running system, with special provision for copying open files but an image cannot be restored onto the Windows System Drive under Windows.Ī disk cloning program must have device drivers or equivalent for all devices used. The computer is booted from this operating system, the cloning program is loaded and copies the computer's file system.

To simplify these tasks, most disk cloning programs can run under an operating system different from the native operating system of the host computer, for example, MS-DOS or an equivalent such as PC DOS or DR-DOS, or Linux. It must also overwrite any operating system already present on the destination disk. A disk cloning program needs to be able to read even protected operating system files on the source disk, and must guarantee that the system is in a consistent state at the time of reading.

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