Backup Solutions? CP too slow.

[scm]

I'm not sure cat will give you the speed you need, since it'll probably be reading in the same block size as dd's default. With dd you can give it a BIG block size and the transfer should really hum along. If you find it makes a difference, play with the value and tune for maximum smoke.

[newyorkpaulie]

I am looking for a simple and fast way to copy all data from one drive to another. This should be simple.... Right So say I have /hd1 and /hd2 mounted. To copy all filed from /hd1 to /hd2 I use the following command:

cp /hd1/* /hd2/ -pr

And it does exactly what I need, the only problem is it takes for ever to finish (about 9hours for 50GB). I have 1GB of ram and 4x450Mhz CPUs. The actual copy rate is 7 to 10 MB/s (timed for a single file). However the disk is full of thousands of really tiny files, and that's what bogs down the copy. When copying the files the cpu raves up all the way up to full power and stays like that.

Are there any other ways to do the same thing. I looked into some backup packages but they are too complex for my needs, I basically need a CP command, but one that works fast..

Any Ideas,

- Bogdan

I make a clone of my 60GB drive and it takes about 2 1/2 hours using:
sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc
Note: do sudo fdisk -l first to determine the if (in file) and of (out file) IDs

(The second drive is connected externally to perform the info transfer.)