Question Clone HDD and SDD to NAS?

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JBerto

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Apr 25, 2017
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Hi!

I want to do something that I don't know if it si even possible:

I have a PC with 3 hard drives:

An M.2 (the fastest of my 3 hard drives) where I have installed Windows 10, Office, and some programs (Visual Studio and similar).

A 2.5" SSD, where I basically have games and music programs (I play the electric guitar, and there I have the programs that I use for music and video recording and editing)

A "classic" HDD (the slowest of the 3) in which I basically do not install programs, but all kinds of documents (words, audios and videos that I compose with the guitar or any other type, movies, etc).

The fact is that I'm thinking of removing all that mess of hard drives and buying a NAS (specifically, the QNAS TS-231P3), installing on it an SSD with enough capacity to fit everything I currently have installed on the SSD and on the HDD , and connect it directly to the PC via a network cable (RJ45), (I wouldn't connect it to the router, I would simply connect it directly to the PC via RJ45 and that's it, since it would be to work "locally" with that NAS, which I also understand would works faster).

But of course, I know that I can't just copy the contents of the SSD and HDD to the NAS (well, the documents yes, but the programs won't work).

And that's my question... Is there a program, or is there a way to "clone" the contents of the SSD and HDD of my current PC to the NAS, and also modify the windows registry entries in order the programs that I currently have installed on SSD+HDD continue to work the same in the NAS?

(Because the other option would be, of course, to uninstall them from the PC and install them again on the NAS, but that is not an option, because apart from the fact that there are many, it is also that some of the music ones are complicated to install, they also have effects of audio that are installed elsewhere... a bloody mess!!!).

Is there a way to do that?

Thank you very much!
 
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JBerto said:
Hi!

I want to do something that I don't know if it si even possible:

I have a PC with 3 hard drives:

An M.2 (the fastest of my 3 hard drives) where I have installed Windows 10, Office, and some programs (Visual Studio and similar).

A 2.5" SSD, where I basically have games and music programs (I play the electric guitar, and there I have the programs that I use for music and video recording and editing)

A "classic" HDD (the slowest of the 3) in which I basically do not install programs, but all kinds of documents (words, audios and videos that I compose with the guitar or any other type, movies, etc).

The fact is that I'm thinking of removing all that mess of hard drives and buying a NAS (specifically, the QNAS TS-231P3), installing on it an SSD with enough capacity to fit everything I currently have installed on the SSD and on the HDD , and connect it directly to the PC via a network cable (RJ45), (I wouldn't connect it to the router, I would simply connect it directly to the PC via RJ45 and that's it, since it would be to work "locally" with that NAS, which I also understand would works faster).

But of course, I know that I can't just copy the contents of the SSD and HDD to the NAS (well, the documents yes, but the programs won't work).

And that's my question... Is there a program, or is there a way to "clone" the contents of the SSD and HDD of my current PC to the NAS, and also modify the windows registry entries in order the programs that I currently have installed on SSD+HDD continue to work the same in the NAS?

(Because the other option would be, of course, to uninstall them from the PC and install them again on the NAS, but that is not an option, because apart from the fact that there are many, it is also that some of the music ones are complicated to install, they also have effects of audio that are installed elsewhere... a bloody mess!!!).

Is there a way to do that?

Thank you very much!
Click to expand...
You can't do what you want. Everything will be SLOWER than your current configuration.
 
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JBerto said:
And that's my question... Is there a program, or is there a way to "clone" the contents of the SSD and HDD of my current PC to the NAS, and also modify the windows registry entries in order the programs that I currently have installed on SSD+HDD continue to work the same in the NAS?
Click to expand...
These applications are installed on a drive NOT the C drive?

What you're asking is to massively slow the system down.
Even worse than what lives on the HDD.
 
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Ouch!!!

I assumed they would run a bit slower running from the SSD in the NAS than from the SSD in the PC... but not TOO MUCH! (since the NAS would be connected to the PC via network cable, not Wi-Fi nor USB).
(The Windows 10 S.O. would stay in the M.2 NVME SSD in the PC)

So, the performance would be massively slower, even connecting the NAS to the PC through a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet Port ???????
 
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USAFRet said:
And thats a second consideration why this won't work.
If the NAS is connected to the PC via ethernet, how is the PC connected to your LAN and the outside world?
Click to expand...
That's not a problem, the PC is connected to my router through another ethernet port (I've 2 network ports in my PC).

About the performance, that NAS have a 2.5Gb ethernet port, that wouldn't be enough, and would be a lot slower than a SSD in the PC????
 
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JBerto said:
That's not a problem, the PC is connected to my router through another RJ45 (I've 2 network ports in my PC).
Click to expand...
well, it is an issue and adds complexity.
And would still be slower than an internal drive.

You have 3 drives.
Why not just consolidate the other 2 into one SSD? SATA III or otherwise?

How is having the 3 drives an issue?

My current system has 6x, my previous had 7x.
All SSD of various types.
 
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USAFRet said:
And would still be slower than an internal drive.
Click to expand...
Yes, but if the performance doesn't slow too much, that's not a problem to me (I just use audio software and old games, so I don't need "ultra-fast" drives).

Why not just consolidate the other 2 into one SSD? SATA III or otherwise?
Click to expand...
You're right, is an option, yes.

Anyway, I plan to use the NAS as a server too in the future, that is why I'm also considering using the SSD in the NAS for this two.
 
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JBerto said:
Yes, but if the performance doesn't slow too much, that's not a problem to me (I just use audio software and old games, so I don't need "ultra-fast" drives).


You're right, is an option, yes.

Anyway, I plan to use the NAS as a server too in the future, that is why I'm also considering using the SSD in the NAS for this two.
Click to expand...
Can you setup a PC to boot on a network? Yes. Will it be 20X slower than your current system? YES.
Could you setup iSCSI mounts for your other drives? Yes. Would they be slower than your current system? Yes, 6X to 10X slower than the SSD and probably 2X slower than the HDD.
Networked storage has 10X the overhead of direct attached storage.
 
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kanewolf said:
Can you setup a PC to boot on a network? Yes. Will it be 20X slower than your current system? YES.
Could you setup iSCSI mounts for your other drives? Yes. Would they be slower than your current system? Yes, 6X to 10X slower than the SSD and probably 2X slower than the HDD.
Networked storage has 10X the overhead of direct attached storage.
Click to expand...

The idea is not to clone my PC, just 2 drives (the "main" drive is a M.2 NVME SSD and would stay installed in the PC with the Windows 10 S.O. instalation on it.
 
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USAFRet said:
And beyond that, the QNAP NAS (I have one) will completely reformat whatever drives you put in them.

You can't "clone" from the current internal drives directly into a drive in the NAS.
Click to expand...
More than "clonning", the idea would be to "copy" the data and programs in the SSD and HDD to a new SSD in the NAS
 
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This is the difference between 2x internal SATA III SSD, and across a gigabit LAN to a SATA III SSD.
Copying an 8.3GB single file.

GYMGP33.jpg
 
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JBerto said:
More than "clonning", the idea would be to "copy" the data and programs in the SSD and HDD to a new SSD in the NAS
Click to expand...
IF and only if the shared folder is given the same drive letter as whatever internal drive holds the programs now, and if the folder structure is exactly the same....it might work.
There is no function to edit the thousands of Registry entries that are looking at a drive letter.

But with something like Visual Studio...this still might fail.
VS may also rely on device GUIDS and not just the installed drive letter.
 
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USAFRet said:
IF and only if the shared folder is given the same drive letter as whatever internal drive holds the programs now, and if the folder structure is exactly the same....it might work.
There is no function to edit the thousands of Registry entries that are looking at a drive letter.

But with something like Visual Studio...this still might fail.
VS may also rely on device GUIDS and not just the installed drive letter.
Click to expand...
Thanks!

I've "Critical software" (like VS) installed (and would stay) in the M.2 (where I've installed S.O.)

About the folder structure and the registry, that was my main concern and the reason for opening this thread.

The question is: Is there a program capable to to that "transfer" and at the same time, modify the registry?

MAYBE, something like this would work???
https://es.easeus.com/disk-copy/home-edition/

(and thank for your info about speed!!!)
 
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JBerto said:
The question is: Is there a program capable to to that "transfer" and at the same time, modify the registry?
Click to expand...
Not that I know of.
When an application is installed, it makes dozens, sometimes hundreds or thousands of entries in the Reg and elsewhere.

That EaseUS thing is for complete migration. One drive to another, in the same system.
The whole thing, incl the OS as applicable.

Not for moving the contents of a secondary drive to a NAS drive.



For just data files...NOT applications...you can probably do this.
As long as the shared folder ends up with the same drive letter as the current internal drive has now.
The OS and installed applications won't know the difference.
You'll know, because things are now significantly slower.
 
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USAFRet said:
My NAS is for long term storage.
Movies and music libraries
Backup images of all the house systems
A communal space for some shared files
Repository for finished projects

Working projects...CAD, video, photo...all happen on internal drives.
Click to expand...

I guess that's the proper usage for a NAS, yes... maybe I could begin with that.

BTW, Just a quick question about your previous info about data transfer speed: For the test you used the 2.5Gbs ethernet port, or the regular 1Gbs (assuming your PC ethernet port support 2.5Gbs too, as one of the QNAP NAS ports does)?
 
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JBerto said:
I guess that's the proper usage for a NAS, yes... maybe I could begin with that.

BTW, Just a quick question about your previous info about data transfer speed: For the test you used the 2.5Gbs ethernet port, or the regular 1Gbs (assuming your PC ethernet port support 2.5Gbs too, as one of the QNAP NAS ports does)?
Click to expand...
Gigabit.

My TS-423a QNAP does not have 2.5, nor does the PC. Or all the other intervening parts (cables, switch, router, etc)
 
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USAFRet said:
Gigabit.

My TS-423a QNAP does not have 2.5, nor does the PC. Or all the other intervening parts (cables, switch, router, etc)
Click to expand...
hmmm... then MAYBE the difference is not so big!

Theoretically, the 2.5 port is... 2.5X faster :sweatsmile:

So, the speed would be half of the SSD in the PC... not too bad then... hmmm... 🤔
 
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JBerto said:
hmmm... then MAYBE the difference is not so big!

Theoretically, the 2.5 port is... 2.5X faster :sweatsmile:

So, the speed would be half of the SSD in the PC... not too bad then... hmmm... 🤔
Click to expand...
From everything I've heard, the current crop of 2.5gb ports and software is problematic.

And remember...everything needs to support that.
Performance depends on the slowest device in the chain.

Even if my entire chain was 2.5 capable, I still wouldn't run applications or files off the NAS.

Internal drives, then offload to the NAS.
YMMV.
 
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Yep!

Anyway, for the kind of software that I use on those scondary drives, data transfer speed is not too much critical.

Too bad there isn't a program that does what I asked at the beginning of this thread, if there was such a program I would probably give it a try!
 
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