About RAID array
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks which is composed by a set of disks. According to various combinations of approaches offering different level of protection against data security, storage capacity and performing speed. RAID array has been divided into different levels, including RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 2, RAID 3, RAID 4, RAID 5 , RAID 10(1+0).
It allows you to store the same data redundantly (in multiple places) in a balanced way to improve overall performance, such as, superior read/write performance, storage capacity and data safe reliability. And the RAID disks are used frequently on servers and business enterprises but less popular among personal computer.
In brief, RAID array’s main function is to organize multiple disks into a single logical disk to get higher performance.
- I was wondering if anyone knew of any software that can clone/restore a Intel raid0 volume outside of windows. To my knowledge most ghosting software such.
- Clonezilla is free and open source software for disk imaging and cloning. It can be used in both Microsoft Windows OS and GNU/Linux. In the aspect of disk cloning, Clonezilla requires the target disk (SSD in the article) should be equal or larger than the source disk (HDD). Therefore, it is not easy to clone HDD to smaller SSD through Clonezilla.
How to use Clonezilla for Windows 10 to clone system disk to SSD/HDD? This page offers you a step-by-step guide and the best free Clonezilla alternative - AOMEI Backupper. March 31st, 2011 is “World Backup Day”—celebrate it by using free software Clonezilla to clone an exact copy of your OS system disk, regardless if you use Windows, Mac OS, or Linux! In the event of tragic hardware failure, a backup image or completely cloned disk can save you from loads of worry, and get you back on your feet effortlessly.
Why need to clone RAID to a single drive?
Clonezilla Restore
RAID cloning is important for computer users, especially for Server users. Then, why to say so? Generally speaking, we need to clone RAID array regularly in order to enhance the security of our valuable files kept on the RAID disk.
Also, we need to do RAID cloning to upgrade disk by transferring data from small disk to lager one. For instance, when all the volumes on the RAID disk running out of memory, you have no choice but to replace the hardware of RAID disk with a larger hard disk drive or a larger RAID disk.
If this happens, then you need to firstly backup the data to another safe place to avoid unwanted accidents such as data loss. And, secondly, rebuild the RAID and then restore the data again. You may have found that, this is a considerably practice method, the only drawback is that it’s too complex and also time-consuming.
Then, a question come out: is there any easier way? Yes, you can choose to directly clone RAID 0/1 to single drive and then use it to replace the old one.
Free RAID array cloning software
To introduce users a freeware for RAID array clone is exactly the major reason for writing this article. Here, we will introduce you 2 RAID clone software. Both can help you clone RAID disks.
The first RAID cloning software is AOMEI Backupper Standard. It allows user to do both file-by-file and sector-by-sector disk clone. Apart from RAID disk clone, AOMEI Backupper also can do backup tasks for the RAID disk.
If you want to clone GPT disk to MBR or migrate MBR disk to GPT, you could consider upgrading to AOMEI Backupper Professional.
The second one is Partition manager software – AOMEI Partition Assistant, its standard edition is free for both home and business users. Coincidentally, it supports file-by-file disk cloning for RAID array.
Broadly speaking, AOMEI Partition Assistant is pretty good free RAID array clone software. Get this freeware at here!
How to clone RAID 0/1 to single drive/SSD in Windows 7/8/10？
For Windows Operating System, the RAID array virtual drives are the same with physical drive after building the RAID array. That’s to say, you can clone RAID drive as physical disk. However,
there is a little difference. You need to configure the target RAID array before cloning if you want to clone to a RAID array, no matter from a hard disk or another RAID array, such as, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 or other types on Windows Server.
Here, I’ll take the first RAID clone software AOMEI Backupper Standard as an example and show you how to clone RAID disk.
Detailed steps:
Step 1. Check the RAID array virtual drive you want to clone in Disk Management.
Note: A RAID virtual drive is displayed as Disk (X), which is the same as a physical hard disk drive. You’d better run your RAID utilities from BIOS or in Windows to check more detials. From the parameters, such as the disk capacity, you’ll know which Disk is your RAID 0, 1, or other types.
Clonezilla Clone Software Raid 2
Step 2. Open AOMEI Backupper Standard and click Disk Clone under the Clone tab.
Step 3. Select the RAID 0/1 as the source disk and click Next.
Restore Image Using Clonezilla
Step 4. Select the single drive or SSD as the destination disk and click Next.
Step 5. Set up settings if needed. Then, preview the information below and click Start Clone.
Tips:
1. Edit partitions (supported on the AOME Backupper Professional) on the destination disk. This feature is very useful if you clone disk to larger disk. It can help you adjust the partition size of destination disk and avoid unallocated space after cloning.
2. SSD Alignment. It’s highly recommended to tick this option if your destination disk is SSD. It can improve the reading and writing speed of SSD disk.
Clonezilla Image File Extension
3. Sector by sector. This feature is used to clone all the sector from RAID to a single drive whether it used or not.
As mentioned above, AOMEI Backupper still a backup and restore software. You can use it to backup RAID 0, backup RAID 1, Backup RAID 5, etc.
The End
Both AOMEI Backkupper Standard and AOMEI Partition Assistant is a free RAID array clone software, which can help you clone RAID 0/1 to a single drive or SSD within a few steps.
Clonezilla Clone Software Raid Command
AOMEI Backupper is a very friendly software. To satisfy different users’ needs, it provides 5 versions, including 1 free version and 4 paid version. For common users, you can use AOMEI Backupper Standard and AOMEI Backupper Professional. For server users, you need to use AOMEI Backupper Server, which is designed for all server-based computer. For IT technician or business enterprises, you should get AOMEI Backupper Tech or Tech Plus.