Can I redirect block storage devices to each other?











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Obviously what I'm about to describe is better handled by rsync or cp, but...



Say I have two drives on my computer. Could I make one a perfect image of the other with the following command? Would files on sda be accessible on sdb through the file system?



cat /dev/sda > /dev/sdb


My inclination is that each device could (potentially) be too different from the other for a blind write like this to work.










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    up vote
    0
    down vote

    favorite












    Obviously what I'm about to describe is better handled by rsync or cp, but...



    Say I have two drives on my computer. Could I make one a perfect image of the other with the following command? Would files on sda be accessible on sdb through the file system?



    cat /dev/sda > /dev/sdb


    My inclination is that each device could (potentially) be too different from the other for a blind write like this to work.










    share|improve this question
























      up vote
      0
      down vote

      favorite









      up vote
      0
      down vote

      favorite











      Obviously what I'm about to describe is better handled by rsync or cp, but...



      Say I have two drives on my computer. Could I make one a perfect image of the other with the following command? Would files on sda be accessible on sdb through the file system?



      cat /dev/sda > /dev/sdb


      My inclination is that each device could (potentially) be too different from the other for a blind write like this to work.










      share|improve this question













      Obviously what I'm about to describe is better handled by rsync or cp, but...



      Say I have two drives on my computer. Could I make one a perfect image of the other with the following command? Would files on sda be accessible on sdb through the file system?



      cat /dev/sda > /dev/sdb


      My inclination is that each device could (potentially) be too different from the other for a blind write like this to work.







      block-device storage






      share|improve this question













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      share|improve this question










      asked yesterday









      DeepDeadpool

      270211




      270211






















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          Much better way to copy disk to disk is to use dd:



          dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb


          But this will work well only if sda is smaller or equivalent by size to sdb. The same is true about the files on sdb.



          If you want to have files on smaller sdb use rsync with some filter (to be sure you will sync successfully the files from sda to sdb)






          share|improve this answer





















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            1 Answer
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            active

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            1 Answer
            1






            active

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            active

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            active

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            up vote
            2
            down vote













            Much better way to copy disk to disk is to use dd:



            dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb


            But this will work well only if sda is smaller or equivalent by size to sdb. The same is true about the files on sdb.



            If you want to have files on smaller sdb use rsync with some filter (to be sure you will sync successfully the files from sda to sdb)






            share|improve this answer

























              up vote
              2
              down vote













              Much better way to copy disk to disk is to use dd:



              dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb


              But this will work well only if sda is smaller or equivalent by size to sdb. The same is true about the files on sdb.



              If you want to have files on smaller sdb use rsync with some filter (to be sure you will sync successfully the files from sda to sdb)






              share|improve this answer























                up vote
                2
                down vote










                up vote
                2
                down vote









                Much better way to copy disk to disk is to use dd:



                dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb


                But this will work well only if sda is smaller or equivalent by size to sdb. The same is true about the files on sdb.



                If you want to have files on smaller sdb use rsync with some filter (to be sure you will sync successfully the files from sda to sdb)






                share|improve this answer












                Much better way to copy disk to disk is to use dd:



                dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb


                But this will work well only if sda is smaller or equivalent by size to sdb. The same is true about the files on sdb.



                If you want to have files on smaller sdb use rsync with some filter (to be sure you will sync successfully the files from sda to sdb)







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered yesterday









                Romeo Ninov

                5,09231727




                5,09231727






























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