Redo Backup & Recovery

Clone Your Hard Disk over network, by using Redo Backup & Recovery

If you're a network admin, or have a need to build PC systems in sizable quantity, the concept of system hard disk cloning should not be anything new. Names like "Ghost",  "Clonezilla" and "Acronis True Image" are just some examples of cloning software available. However, your budget may be limited, or you feel Clonezilla too complicated to setup.

Recently, I came across a not-so-well-known name – “Redo Backup & Recovery”, and it really worth your consideration, even for serious network administrators. Benefits of this tool include – easy to use yet powerful, platform independent, support backup and restore over network, and FREE FOR PERSONAL AND COMMERCIAL USE!

With advancement in network bandwidth and speed, it's now practical to clone drives through network. Here below outlines the steps to clone over network:

Steps to Generate Boot CD

1. Go to this site and download the ISO file to make a boot CD: http://redobackup.org/download.php
2. Use the generated CD to boot a laptop/computer, choose “Enhance Video”* (in my case, my two laptops need to choose this mode to start properly)

*try other video modes if can't go enhanced

Steps to Make an Image Over Network

1. After boot at Home, choose Home-Backup or Restore. Choose Backup.
2. In “Step 1: Select Source Drive”, select the drive to clone and press Next.
3. In “Step 2: Select Partitions to Save”, check the partitions you want to clone. Press Next.
4. In “Step 3: Select Destination Drive”, choose “Shared over a network”
5. In “Server or share location”, enter your server IP address and sharefolder. Example: “//192.168.1.100/share”, where 192.168.1.100 is your server and the sharefolder “share” stores your clone source images.
6. In “Username”, enter the user name to access the sharefolder. Example: “my-pc/tony”, where “my-pc” is your server computer name and “tony” is the user name.
7. In “Password”, provide password. Unless you have a Domain, otherwise just leave the “Domain” field blank.
8. Press “Next”, and provide the folder for storing the cloned image files. Press Save Here.
9. … now very straight forward…

Steps to Restore Over Network

1. Once started at Home, choose Home-Backup or Restore. Choose Restore.
2. In “Step 1: Select Source Drive”, choose “Shared over a network”
3. In “Server or share location”, enter your server IP address and sharefolder. Example: “//192.168.1.100/share”, where 192.168.1.100 is your server and the sharefolder “share” stores your clone source images.
4. In “Username”, enter the user name to access the sharefolder. Example: “my-pc/tony”, where “my-pc” is your server computer name and “tony” is the user name.
5. In “Password”, provide password. Unless you have a Domain, otherwise just leave the “Domain” field blank.
6. Press “Next”, click on the folder icon and browse to the image file you want to restore from. Press “Open”* (*if network share not found, double check computer name/IP, username and password; also try disable the firewall of the server)

…
I think the rest you can figure out by yourself, very straight forward.

Limitation:

• Can't resize the clone destination partitions, so you must clone a smaller disk to a larger disk but not the other way round

Remarks:

• You may need to go to Home-Network (Setup wired connection) and setup your network first. Simply choose DHCP if it’s available, or self fixed a static IP address.
• If you see a BLANK screen, move your mouse to the top right corner and click on the [X].
• Do not use “\”, instead use “/”. For example, “//192.168.1.100/share” instead of \\192.168.1.100\share
• You may need to make a boot CD for each laptop
• The “server” which shares the clones files can be a simple Windows PC with a shared folder
• Bootable USB drive is supported, boot from a CD and use its built-in tool to create one

Benchmark:

• Clone over network a 80GB HDD with around 6GB system data takes about 7 mins, using low-end D-Link Gigabit switching.