Disk Utility "Restore" hd copy function vs. Carbon Copy Cloner?

[California]

I have always copied my hard disks with the Disk Utility "Restore" function. Is this the best way to copy discs? I don't get why I need Carbon Copy Cloner as this has always worked for me...

?

 

[JNB]

I have always copied my hard disks with the Disk Utility "Restore" function. Is this the best way to copy discs? I don't get why I need Carbon Copy Cloner as this has always worked for me...

?

That's used to make disk images, and not the "best" backup solution--in fact, not really a backup solution at all. .dmg files are not cloned drives, two different things altogether. CCC (and SuperDuper) clone the drive, where the clone is bootable. If your drive is toasted, you HAVE to boot from the install DVD to restore the image (or another machine and Target Mode, or... You get the idea). With the others, you simply boot from the clone.

 

[California]

That's used to make disk images, and not the "best" backup solution--in fact, not really a backup solution at all. .dmg files are not cloned drives, two different things altogether. CCC (and SuperDuper) clone the drive, where the clone is bootable. If your drive is toasted, you HAVE to boot from the install DVD to restore the image (or another machine and Target Mode, or... You get the idea). With the others, you simply boot from the clone.

That's what I'm saying, I boot from the restored Disk Utility copy of my hard drive all the time. I guess I don't understand the difference in the copying systems.

 

[BSartist]

What is the verdict?

I was wondering the same thing myself after reading in the Missing Manual that restore does this.

 

[ITASOR]

I found this in a Google search and just figured I would answer the last question.

While Disk Utility can effectively create a "clone" of your drive (NOT a disk image) using the "Restore" feature, Carbon Copy Cloner can create an incremental clone. The incremental clone runs through an existing clone and only changes items that have changes themselves. This saves a massive amount of time if you plan to clone your drive on a regular basis as backup maintenance. If you are simply cloning your drive once as a quick backup before you reinstall your OS (like to use Migration Assistant from), the Disk Utility "Restore" feature is equal to using Carbon Copy Cloner.

 

[cycologist]

CCC uses rsync for incremental backup, disk utility uses asr for cloning

Apple Software Restore (/usr/sbin/asr) is the osx command line tool used to clone disks. Rsync is used by CCC to incrementally update (previously cloned) disks. Rsync is an *nix tool available on all kinds of platforms. I guess this is why Bombich cannot really charge for CCC, since it is just a pretty GUI wrapper for already existing tools, asr is on every osx machine, rsync is available through multiple channels (CCC, Macports, etc.)

 

[blouis79]

CCC uses asr and rsync

Apple Software Restore (/usr/sbin/asr) is the osx command line tool used to clone disks. Rsync is used by CCC to incrementally update (previously cloned) disks. [...] it is just a pretty GUI wrapper for already existing tools, asr is on every osx machine, rsync is available through multiple channels (CCC, Macports, etc.)

To clarify - CCC uses asr for clones and rsync for incremental backups of clones and whatever else it does.
http://www.bombich.com/mactips/image.html

I have developed a utility that encapsulates the power of asr and rsync and performs all the necessary steps to clone a drive.

Note the rsync used by CCC is a patched version and is not presently the one shipping on OSX. For those wanting to roll their own, Bombich provides detailed instructions:
http://www.bombich.com/mactips/rsync.html

See Backup Bouncer for a full description of what is in and out of various backup programs. Even asr was not always flawless.
http://www.n8gray.org/blog/2007/04/27/introducing-backup-bouncer/

 

[gr8tfly]

That's used to make disk images, and not the "best" backup solution--in fact, not really a backup solution at all. .dmg files are not cloned drives, two different things altogether. CCC (and SuperDuper) clone the drive, where the clone is bootable. If your drive is toasted, you HAVE to boot from the install DVD to restore the image (or another machine and Target Mode, or... You get the idea). With the others, you simply boot from the clone.

Disk Utility can restore to a real, physical, volume - it's not limited in any way to only making .dmg files. In fact, that's the way I generally use it, so I can have a bootable backup image. The only time you need to boot off the DVD is to make the "restore" clone using block copy (select "erase destination" to enable block copy).

If your drive is "toasted", you can simply boot off your backup drive to get back on-the-air - the install DVD is not required for this. You can, in theory, restore from the backup boot volume back to your repaired/replaced drive, but you are limited to file copy mode - a MUCH slower method than block copy. Block copy requires the unmounting of both source & target volumes, which is why you need to boot off of a third volume (either the DVD, or other OS-X volume with Disk Utility on it). IMO, block copy restore is the only way to go. It's been 100% reliable for me (i.e., the restored volume boots normally and w/o any issues).

For this task, I just made a small (30GB) "emergency" partition with a clean, up-to-date, install of OS-X. You can also just "restore" the install DVD to a small partition. Either way, you have an easily available, "emergency" boot volume.