Duplicate Drive on QNAP TS-451

[Pocdck]

Hi

I run a QNAP TS-451 with four 8TB WD Reds, each one formatted as a single disk.

I want to back up the first drive by buying another 8TB WD and making an exact copy of that first drive. I have the content of the other three drives backed up and they rarely change; I just want to make an exact copy of the first drive.
Can I simply buy another 8TB WD, take out one of the other three drives, make an exact copy of the first drive, and then put back the drive I took out and store the exact copy of drive one?
Or is it more complicated than that?

[dolbyman]

The exact same thing is discussed all the time .. try it .. could work .. could fail .. the joys of single disks

[Pocdck]

What do you mean? Copying a disk seems like a fairly straightforward process. Why would it fail?
Is there a way to do it on the Qnap?

[dolbyman]

As the QNAP disks contain more than just user data, they also contain the system partitions for the OS, and here is where disk ID problems can lead to unexpected behaviour.

Cloning the drive to expand capacity will not work for instance, as the partition size remains the same. (CAT1 or CAT2 Static and LVM Volumes)

[Pocdck]

OK, so do you mean that the first disk cannot be copied properly? That there are data which cannot be duplicated?

[dolbyman]

no..I say the cloning might have non predictable outcomes

[Pocdck]

I appreciate your replies, but I still cannot quite understand your point.
How can a drive which is identical in every way to another drive not be able simply to replace that drive?
If I do wish to 'clone' or copy exactly the first drive, how do I do it so that all files hidden, system, etc. are copied?

[Melcooley]

Pocdck, did you ever get an answer to this question? I am needing to do the exact thing you're asking. The system reports that Drive 1 (the system drive) is starting to have problems, so I want to make an identical copy of the the data on that drive, put it in Bay #1 and have the new drive become the system drive. I don't understand why this seems to be so difficult. Thanks.

[dolbyman]

4 years later?

this thread is only a couple of days old?

[Melcooley]

Oh, yep, sure is. Sorry, I glanced at Pocdck's "Joined" date by mistake.

[yvon.k]

Hello all

I have exactly the same problem
My first drive seems to have smart problems.

is there finally a way to SIMPLY make a CLONE of this disk to a fresh new disk (with a larger capacity)?

Otherwise what is the utility to have a snapshots, snapshots replica and vault and other blabalabala if this simple task is so hard to achieve....

Sorry but I spent 1/2 day to search a way to do that... when I have buy a Qnap NAS I would expect this would be much more easier.

Thanks for your answer and time

Yvon

[dosborne]

The answer remains the same. "Cloning" is not a supported function, is dangerous, and may not work when you go to try and use the clone. Just use normal backup procedures for backing up the data. If you want disk redundancy (NOT a backup) then run RAID.

[ritters]

If I ever would be in the need of a clone I would use dd on Linux.

[QN463]

We've had success using LUN Export to duplicate the drive data and then LUN Import to recover to another drive if needed after an event. We cycle off-site backups this way

[FSC830]

We've had success using LUN Export to duplicate the drive data and then LUN Import to recover to another drive if needed after an event. We cycle off-site backups this way

Afaik this is only available for block storage Luns (iSCSI and FC)?
And doing a backup, no matter if onsite or offsite, and restoring is a totally different task than cloning a disk.

Regards