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Can I clone a hard disk that is completely full?

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I am new to using Acronis (or any image/clone application for that matter).

I have a Windows server with SQL on it that has created a huge transaction log that used up all the hard disk space...is there any way I can image or clone the disk without installing something on the hard drive of that machine?

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Jeff,

If you have access to another machine where you can install ATI 2016, you could then use that machine to create rescue media (DVD or USB).  Then boot your Windows server with rescue media and perform a backup or clone.

Regards,

FtrPilot

Thanks so much for your reply FtrPilot...so on my PC I logged in to the Acronis site (we bought the 5 license package and have used only one so far). Do I download the "Bootable Media" from the downloads section and write that to a disk? I am doing that now...after that completes, I boot the server with that disk and it will let me clone it to another drive on our network?

Jeff,

While running ATI, there is a "Tools" button along the left side.  Select tools, and one of the options there is to build rescue media.  That is what you should do.  The download rescue media is from an earlier version.

FtrPilot

Jeff,

Terminology...a clone is a disk to disk operation where the destination drive becomes and identical "clone" of the source drive.  And, yes, you should be able to perform that operation within certain constraints, such as, the destination drive must be same size or larger than source disk.  You can't clone dynamic disks. Both disks must contain same sector size.

What you may want to do is a "disk mode" backup of the Window Server Drive.  The disk mode backup will be compressed, so the file size will be smaller than the source drive.  Restoring a disk mode backup would then make the destination drive bootable. 

If you are looking for a way to create a larger drive for your windows server, then you are on the right track.  If that is the case, then I have some recommendations...let me know.

FtrPilot

I am performing a backup now to a 500GB external hard disk....should I do a disk clone as well? I think what I will need to do is replace the disk that is currently installed with a larger one. Will the "backup" be sufficient for this? or do I need to clone the disk?

Thanks so much for your assistance FtrPilot,

My primary issue is that the single drive on this older Dell server has completely filled up (as a result of an application that uses SQL Server, a transaction log became grossly inflated to like 40GB). The vendor told us when we installed that an 80GB hard drive would be sufficient and now we have this issue where I can't even uninstall something to make extra room as there is 0 bytes available on the HD.

I need to figure out a way to get a larger disk installed on the machine and then get the backup back to the larger drive. I need to see if I can even install a second drive in the server (I'm not sure at the moment and can't look until the backup is completed to the external HD that I'm doing.

Jeff

Here's what I would recommend.

1 Tb hard drives are very inexpensive these days.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000DM003/dp/…

You can connnect directly to your server using a USB docking station, such as:

http://www.amazon.com/Kingwin-EZD-2537U3-Dual-Bay-Docking-Station/dp/B0…

After you have confirmed that your rescue media will boot your windows server.  You can then uninstall the current boot drive from your windows server, and then install the new 1Tb drive.  It obviously won't boot, which is why you should confirm that your rescue media works.

Then put the old drive into the kingwin sled.

At this point, confirm that ATI 2016 rescue media can see both hard drives.  You can then perform a clone from the 80Gb drive to the 1Tb drive.  After the clone is complete, turn the computer off...disconnect the usb drive, remove rescue media.  Turn your windows server back on and set the BIOS to the new 1Tb drive.  It should boot.

If you have sufficient budget to buy an extra 1Tb or 2Tb drive, then the first thing I would do prior to the clone is to create a disk mode backup of the 80GB drive while it is stlll in the server.  This backup provides insurance in case something goes wrong with clone.

Hope this helps, and let us know how things proceed. 

Regards,

FtrPilot

 

 

Thanks for your response!

I was rumaging around and found a server of the exact same configuration (Dell PowerEdge 750...yes, I know...ancient...lol) The difference is that the logical hard drive is 146GB.

I am wondering...if I restore the backup I made from the problematic machine to the newly found PowerEdge 750, will it restore to the HDs and then can I move those hard drives to the other machine?

Jeff

Jeff,

I am not an expert on "logical" drives, so I don't really know how to respond...but it sounds like the newly found PowerEdge 750 has 2 physical drives that are somehow "Raided" together to form 1 logical drive.  The problem is that the restore operation would have to be performed using the rescue media.  The rescue media is Linux based and I believe the Linux kernel would not have the drivers necessary to connect the drives into 1 logical drive.  Or, perhaps I don't have a clue about what I am talking about.

I know this doesn't help, but I really don't want to steer you down the wrong path.

Regards,

FtrPilot

FtrPilot,

I wanted to thank you again for your replies...I was able to work my way around on the old server by removing some files to an external USB drive and then SQL Server Management Studio would let me shrink the rogue transaction file that had grown to 40GB. However, while I was doing that I did (for a Plan B) run the ATI backup and then the restore on another machine...the restore to the other machine looks to have worked perfectly as I can log in and start up the application that is on the older server just like its a mirror copy. Thanks for walking me through the steps of doing that, it was a great exercise and something I need to do more of and get better at.

Jeff

Jeff,

Congrats on finding a solution, and thanks for providing feedback.

Regards,

FtrPilot