cloned drive - multiple machines

we purchased several machines that, in the end, need to be the same...so here are my questions regarding cloned drives with TI 9:

1. the best option is to clone the drive on the first machine after all programs are installed (instead of doing a "full backup")
2. if the answer above is yes, the cloned image will originally be stored on the C drive of the machine being cloned and then burned to a DVD, correct? (we have no network drive to store it on at this time)
3. the machines hardware is not exactly the same, does that matter for the cloned image? will the image still work on all machines?

thanks for your help...

 

Cloning is normally used to migrate an OS from one drive to a second drive, usually of larger capacity. I can't see how you can clone a drive onto itself.

The answer was No. You may be thinking of an image of your system stored on the same drive.

If you search the forum you will find that there is no guarantee that an image of a system restored to a different hardware will work.

If I can summarize your plan, you are thinking of creating an image of a computer. You would then burn this image to DVD. You would then restore this image to multiple computers of possible different hardwares on each of which you would have installed True Image. Hoping you have licenses for all these installations, you would still encounter conflicts of different hardwares. If the restoration is unsuccessful, you would have destroyed the existing OS and end up with an unbootable computer.

 

sorry, not all that familiar with the lingo...what i was trying to say was if you clone a machine, it has to go somewhere - another drive or a disc...since we don't have a networked drive i would have to put the clone on a disc...so, before it is burned, the clone has to be temporarily stored somewhere, doesn't it? i thought i've read that cloning straight to DVD is not reliable, thus i thought i would temporarily store it on the C drive until it is burned...

is cloning used to restore a drive after it crashes, or is that an image (which i assume is a "full backup")?

maybe, like i said i'm not that familiar with the lingo....looking for the best option to accomplish this and imaging may be the way to go (is an image a "full backup"?)

yes, that was my plan, if possible...i've read about a prep you can do to a system to prepare it for cloning using ghost (sorry, hate dropping names of competition)...is there an option to prepare a system to be cloned to be put on different hardware?

or, should i setup each machine that has the different hardware and backup those drives?

 

here's what it says in the manual, and why i assumed i could clone one computer and use that image to migrate to other machines:

"Acronis True Image Workstation can be used to clone an image onto multiple workstations. For example, a company purchased several computers and needs similar environments on each of them. Traditionally, an IT manager should install the operating system and programs on every workstation. With Acronis True Image Workstation, the IT manager can create a disk image of the first system deployed. That image can then be duplicated onto multiple computers."

 

I think you should forget about cloning in your case. As far as prep for cloning read this.

Let's also clear up the lingo. Creating an image of a system is the same as creating a backup of the system.

What I would recommend is that you install TI on each computer and backup or create an image of each computer separately. Trying to restore an image to different hardware is too risky in my opinion. Now Acronis may have alternatives to True Image Home for what you are trying to do. That I wouldn't know. As to the question of where to store each image, here are your alternatives in order of preference:
1. Internal slave drive.
2. External USB2 drive
3. DVD
4. Secure Zone on your primary active drive.

 

In your original post you talked about TI9. Here you are referring to Acronis True Image Workstation. I think Acronis could have made a better choice of words in saying Acronis True Image Workstation can be used to clone an image onto multiple workstations. Maybe ATI Workstation would be the program for you, I don't know?

 

sorry, yes, it is the workstation version...regarding you other post, i think i follow you and i think this is probably best...

i'll just prep each machine that is different, and then create a backup of that machine just in case of hardware failure in the future...rather than the riskier task of trying one image on different hardware...

we only have 10 PCs (5 of one version and 5 of another) so i'll only need to prep two systems and clone those....

 

You don't have to prep each machine if you are creating a backup image. Prep is recommended only if you are cloning to different hardware, and by different hardware one should read a different hard drive.

I repeat again, there is no need to clone here, hence no need for any preps.

 

what i meant was we have 5 machines version A and 5 machines version B (all A's are exactly the same and all B's are exactly the same). i will take one A and one B and install everything i need (that's the prep i was referring to)...then i will clone A and clone B...i'll use the A clone to install everything on the other 4 A machines...i'll do the same with the B machines...

 

I guess that would work, but I think it will have to be done as follows. Let's call one set A1, A2, A3, A4, A5.

Install everything on A1. Remove the HD from A2 and either install it as a slave to A1 or in an external enclosure to A1. Clone HDA1 to HDA2. Remove HDA2 and install in A2. Now repeat the procedure for A3, A4, A5.

Repeat the above for B1, B2, B3, B4, B5.

In case to trouble refer to Dan Goodell's article.

 

ok, gotcha...then after all that is done i can do a full backup on each machine just in case of failure in the future, correct?

 

Since you have the workstation TI, if you upgrade to Workstation 9.1 you could purchase the Universal Restore add on to make it a little easier...
http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/

UR specifically: http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/ATICW/universal-restore.html

 

Correct

 

oohh...i like that...is there a users manual for that (i can't find one)...or is the only thing i need to know is that the "new" bootable disk created using Universal Restore do everything i need (no sysprep, do a backup as usual, boot from the "new" bootable media from UR, install image created with UR option selected)? is it really that simple?

 

Hello thaKing,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Workstation Disk Backup Software.

We are sorry for the delayed response.

Please note that you can use the procedure described by dld in the post #10 and use Acronis True Image 9.1 Workstation for this. However, since you have 10 computers (5 machines version A and 5 machines version B) and all "A's are exactly the same and all B's exactly the same" I would recommend that you use Acronis Snap Deploy 2.0 in this case. Using Acronis Snap Deploy 2.0 you will be able to create an image of the configured system and then deploy this image to several computers at once. Also the images it creates are the same as those created by Acronis True Image and you may restore the image using both of these programs. Therefore, all you will need to do is to configure one computer of type A and one computer of type B, then create master image on these computers using Acronis Snap Deploy Master Image Creator. After that deploy each image to all other 4 computers simultaneous. Please note that computers should be connected via network to perform deployment with Acronis Snap Deploy 2.0. Also Acronis Snap Deploy 2.0 provides an efficient solution for hardware-independent system deployment with help of Universal Deploy. You can find more information on how to use Acronis Snap Deploy 2.0 in the respective User's Guide.

As for your question about Acronis Universal Restore:

The information about Acronis Universal Restore can be found in Chapter 3.7 "Acronis Universal Restore" in the Acronis True Image 9.1 Workstation User's Guide. And yes you are right Acronis Universal Restore can be used “after the fact”: it is not necessary to create an image with the option.

If you have any further questions concerning Acronis software, please feel free to submit a request for technical support or post any of them on this forum. We will certainly try to help you in resolving any issues.

Thank you.
--
Aleksandr Isakov

 

I have Acronis True Image 9 Home. Can I install True image Workstation and then Universal Restore to recover my Home version images to a new computer or do the images need to be created using the full workstation product?

Thanks

 

so many options...i'm new to imaging and i am being overwhelmed... thanks for the info, this sounds even better...

 

Hello iansbrainstorm,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

I am sorry for the delayed response.

Yes, you can do it. As I mentioned before Acronis Universal Restore can be used “after the fact”. You will be able to restore the image created with Acronis True Image 9.0 Home using Acronis True Image 9.1 Workstation with Acronis Universal Restore plug-in. Please find more information on how to use Acronis Universal Restore in Chapter 3.7 "Acronis Universal Restore" in the Acronis True Image 9.1 Workstation User's Guide.

Thank you.
--
Aleksandr Isakov