Editing Disk cloning (section)

== Applications ==

=== Deployment ===
A common use of disk cloning is for deployment. For example, a group of computers with similar hardware can be set up much quicker by cloning the configuration. In educational institutions, students are typically expected to experiment with computers to learn. Disk cloning can be used to help keep computers clean and configured correctly.<ref name=":4"/> Further, while installing the operating system is quick, installation of programs and ensuring a consistent configuration is time consuming. Thus, disk cloning seeks to mitigate this administrative challenge.

=== Digital forensics ===
One of the most common applications of disk cloning is for digital forensics purposes.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Manson |first1=Dan |last2=Carlin |first2=Anna |last3=Ramos |first3=Steve |last4=Gyger |first4=Alain |last5=Kaufman |first5=Matthew |last6=Treichelt |first6=Jeremy |title=2007 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'07) |chapter=Is the Open Way a Better Way? Digital Forensics Using Open Source Tools |date=2007 |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4076922 |pages=266b |doi=10.1109/HICSS.2007.301|s2cid=15273267}}</ref> This aims to ensure that data is preserved at the time it was acquired for later analysis.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Meffert |first1=Christopher S. |last2=Baggili |first2=Ibrahim |last3=Breitinger |first3=Frank |date=2016-08-07 |title=Deleting collected digital evidence by exploiting a widely adopted hardware write blocker |url=https://digitalcommons.newhaven.edu/context/electricalcomputerengineering-facpubs/article/1056/viewcontent/Deleting_Collected_Digital_Evidence___WriteBlocker.pdf |journal=Digital Investigation |language=en |volume=18 |pages=S87–S96 |doi=10.1016/j.diin.2016.04.004 |issn=1742-2876|doi-access=free }}</ref> Techniques for cloning a disk for forensic purposes differ from cloning a drive for other purposes. Typically, the cloning process itself must not interfere with the data. Because software cannot be installed on the system, a hardware-based cloner is generally used to duplicate the data to another drive or image.<ref name=":0"/> Further, the hardware-based cloner also has write-blocking capabilities which intercepts write commands to prevent data being written to the drive.<ref name=":5"/>

=== Backup ===
Disk cloning can be used as a backup solution by creating a duplicate of data as it existed when the clone was started.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Babalola |first=Olawunmi |date=2018-03-02 |title=BEST PRACTICE FOR COMPUTER IMAGING AND MAINTAINING A DATABASE |url=https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/csis_stsc/4 |journal=Student Scholarship – Computer Science}}</ref> The clone can be used to restore corrupted files such as corrupted databases. In modern software solutions, it is not uncommon for disk cloning techniques to be combined with [[disk imaging]] techniques to create a backup solution. 

=== Drive upgrade ===
Upgrading to a larger or faster drive can be facilitated by cloning the old drive to the new drive once it is installed into the system. This reduces the need to having to manually reinstall applications, drivers and the operating system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How to Clone Hard Drive on Windows 10 without Reinstalling |url=https://www.diskpart.com/windows-10/clone-hard-drive-windows-10-0528.html |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=www.diskpart.com}}</ref> The procedure can be used when migrating from mechanical [[Hard disk drive|hard disk drives]] to [[Solid-state drive|solid state drives]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=How to Upgrade HDD to SSD without Reinstalling Windows |url=https://www.diskpart.com/articles/upgrade-hdd-to-ssd-without-reinstalling-0310.html |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=www.diskpart.com}}</ref> Modern cloning software tends to communicate with storage devices through a common interface, which means, that any storage device can be cloned and migrated. Sometimes, booting from the destination drive can fail and require adjustments in the computer's [[UEFI|UEFI or BIOS]] to make the new clone bootable.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fixed: Cloned Hard Drive or SSD Won't Boot |url=https://www.diskpart.com/articles/cloned-hard-drive-ssd-wont-boot-4348.html |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=www.diskpart.com}}</ref>