h1nd00_p$ych1a7r1$7@salmahayeksknockers.edu wrote:
> I've found several methods:
>
> 1) LVM Snapshots
> 2) DDing of whole drive or partitions
> 3) Mirroring, Syncing, and breaking (Although I havn't figured out how)
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions as to which is better, or other options?

Uh - what's the problem with cp -a? Or if you must do it over the net,
use rsync or tar.

Most of the above is not for cloning, but are useful preceding actions
prior to cloning. Only dd will do a copy from among your options (and
what is wrong with "cp"?), and it's pretty silly as a method to choose!

The usual thing is to use rsync or tar (or cpio, apio, etc.). If you
are fussy about holding the thing steady while you are photographing
it, then you might do an lvm snapshot op beforehand. Of course, if
you were mirroring the thing, you could break the mirror, leaving
yourself with the snapshot at time of breakage, and copy that. But
an lvm snapshot will be more space efficient.

Why make such a fuss? It's not a thing that's hard to do, thus the word
"better" seems to have little meaning!

Peter