Clonezilla, imaging, and all the rest
It's been a while since my last blog post. Which isn't a problem necessarily, just a statement of fact. I feel like I have to reflect on a few things concerning this blog, the first of which is I never really expected this blog to be widely read or commented on. Which, as it turns out, is entirely the case. I'm glad I didn't get my hopes up. I understand that the things I write about are more technical and somewhat specific to certain products out on the market, of which pages and pages of information can be found about online. This is not an attempt, by any means, to replace that information--like most other user-generated content on the web, this is just meant to supplement the already available information with my unique viewpoint and solutions to challenges I've faced, which I hope will be helpful to someone.
The second thing I'd like to reflect on is the fact that I am now finished with my bachelor's degree, which means I get to come home from work and do whatever I want with my time, rather than previously when my life consisted of work, school, and homework, all to be repeated the next day. I now feel like a real person with real time to devote to various pursuits--which just so happens to include this blog. If I can find the time among my other pursuits to work on it.
The third thing I'd like to reflect on is the entirely obvious fact that my writing skills leave something(s) to be desired, to put it lightly. I was not an English major for good reason. However, while I am very good at explaining things to people in ways that they can understand (you have to remember I'm a computer tech at a school district, so it's part of my job description and a daily task), putting that same information down in writing and step-by-step is a little more challenging. I am trying, and will do my best to apply what I've learned and observed to my own writing.
So enough reflection, and on to the good stuff.
CLONEZILLA. This free software, licensed under the GPL, is amazing. It has saved me countless hours setting up computers, and I don't even use the full functionality of it. Here's an overview of how I use the software: I have a shared folder called "images" set up on a Windows XP box that has a 500GB drive which I stole from a NAS that wasn't working all that great. I then use Clonezilla Live CD to boot up the source (or target, the steps are essentially the same), log in to the share over the network, and create an image from the source computer. I then do the same boot from CD and login to the share to pull images from the network to the target computer. It's really as straightforward and simple as that.
The biggest benefit to using this software is that it's free. In a school district that has no money, saving time and money at the same time can't be beat. Another benefit to using Clonezilla is that it's so easy and straightforward to use, at least the live CD part. No frills, no mess, just works. The people developing the software are on the ball, making new versions available fairly frequently when the underlying tools that Clonezilla relies on are updated.
Check it out here at clonezilla.org.
The second thing I'd like to reflect on is the fact that I am now finished with my bachelor's degree, which means I get to come home from work and do whatever I want with my time, rather than previously when my life consisted of work, school, and homework, all to be repeated the next day. I now feel like a real person with real time to devote to various pursuits--which just so happens to include this blog. If I can find the time among my other pursuits to work on it.
The third thing I'd like to reflect on is the entirely obvious fact that my writing skills leave something(s) to be desired, to put it lightly. I was not an English major for good reason. However, while I am very good at explaining things to people in ways that they can understand (you have to remember I'm a computer tech at a school district, so it's part of my job description and a daily task), putting that same information down in writing and step-by-step is a little more challenging. I am trying, and will do my best to apply what I've learned and observed to my own writing.
So enough reflection, and on to the good stuff.
CLONEZILLA. This free software, licensed under the GPL, is amazing. It has saved me countless hours setting up computers, and I don't even use the full functionality of it. Here's an overview of how I use the software: I have a shared folder called "images" set up on a Windows XP box that has a 500GB drive which I stole from a NAS that wasn't working all that great. I then use Clonezilla Live CD to boot up the source (or target, the steps are essentially the same), log in to the share over the network, and create an image from the source computer. I then do the same boot from CD and login to the share to pull images from the network to the target computer. It's really as straightforward and simple as that.
The biggest benefit to using this software is that it's free. In a school district that has no money, saving time and money at the same time can't be beat. Another benefit to using Clonezilla is that it's so easy and straightforward to use, at least the live CD part. No frills, no mess, just works. The people developing the software are on the ball, making new versions available fairly frequently when the underlying tools that Clonezilla relies on are updated.
Check it out here at clonezilla.org.
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