Andrew wrote:
> Procedure 2: The faster option (repeated for each hard drive)
>
> [slow server] halt
> pull hard drives off slow_server and place in removable tray on
> faster_server
> [faster server] dd if= /dev/slowdrive ibs=4096 conv=notruc,noerror >
> slowdrive.img
> [faster server] mount slowdrive.img && calc md5sums > list
> [faster server] rsync /mnt/slowdrive/ /newdir/
> [faster server] cd /newdir/ && check md5sums against list
> Questions:
> 1) Theory question: will Option 2 produce identical results to Option 1 only
> quicker ??
> 2) Practical question: is Option 2 "too risky" given the age of the drives
> ?? I have this fear of possibly harming a hard drive no matter how careful
> .. is my fear justified or baseless ??
I'm guessing you don't have recent backups of the slow server -- whoops!
I'm also guessing that the data on the drive is fairly valuable.
Personally, I wouldn't risk Option 2.
If you're trying to minimise downtime, how about:
* md5sum all the files
* Transfer them *all* while the server is in use
* Stop people using the server, and do a
find $PATH -xdev -type -f -mtime -3
to find all files that have been modified in the last couple of days.
Move just those files.
* Run md5sum on the new and the old server to check that nothing has
changed.
James.
--
E-mail address: james | "Surely you don't begrudge me one measly bag per cup?"
@westexe.demon.co.uk | "Of tea, no. Of sugar, yes."
| -- Peter Corlett
