Clone RAID 0, 1, 5 to Single Drive with RAID Clone Software

If you are looking a free RAID array clone software to clone RAID 0, 1, 5 to a single drive, please continue to read this article and get it now! We will walk you through the detailed steps. You can also skip the basics if you want and go to the introduction and "How to" guide directly.

About RAID Array

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a technology that combines multiple physical disk drives (two or more) into a single logical drive to improve data storage performance, capacity, and reliability. By distributing data across multiple disks, RAID enhances read and write speeds and provides redundancy to protect against data loss in case of a disk failure.

It has been divided into different levels, such as RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 2, RAID 3, RAID 4, RAID 5, RAID 6, and RAID 10, which offer different balances of performance and redundancy, making RAID an essential component in server environments and business enterprises where data integrity and speed are critical. 

Although less common in personal computers, RAID remains a valuable solution for ensuring data security and optimizing storage performance in more demanding applications. The most commonly used RAID arrays are RAID 0, 1, and 5.

Why Need to Clone RAID to a Single Drive?

RAID cloning is important for computer users, especially for server users. Then, why to say so? Generally speaking, we need to clone RAID array regularly in order to enhance the security of our valuable files kept on the RAID disk. 

Also, we need to do RAID cloning to upgrade disk by transferring data from small disk to lager one. For instance, when all the volumes on the RAID disk running out of memory, you have no choice but to replace the hardware of RAID disk with a larger hard disk drive or a larger RAID disk.

If this happens, then you need to firstly backup RAID 0, 1, 5 drive to another safe place to avoid unwanted accidents such as data loss. And, secondly, rebuild the RAID and then restore the data again. You may have found that, this is a considerably practice method, the only drawback is that it’s too complex and also time-consuming. 

Then, a question come out: is there any easier way? Yes, you can choose to directly clone RAID 0, 1, 5 to single drive and then use it to replace the old one with free RAID array clone software 

How to Safely Clone RAID 0, 1, 5 to a Single Drive

Here, we will introduce you to one free RAID clone software to clone RAID disks, such as RAID 0, 1, 5, etc. AOMEI Backupper Standard, embedded with three clone methods: Disk Clone, System Clone, and Partition Clone, it can clone RAID disk successfully with all of your data on it.

🔗About RAID disk types:

In general, there are two RAID disk types: Hardware RAID and Software RAID.

• Hardware RAID consists of a RAID card designed to combine hard disks into virtual volumes, a special I/O processor chip, and a special array buffer.
• Software RAID, as the name suggests, is connected using software. The best-known example is Dynamic Disk in Disk Management. 

🔗How to check RAID disk types:

The RAID virtual drive is displayed as Disk (X), which is the same as a physical hard disk drive. You can easily check RAID disk types in Disk Management:

• If all of your disks show Basic, you either don't have RAID arrays or have hardware RAID.
• If your disks are displayed as Dynamic and have the same drive letter on multiple drives, it's Software RAID. 

Fortunately, no matter what your RAID disk types are, you can clone RAID disk to HDD or SSD safe in a few clicks.

Part 1: Clone Hardware RAID Disk Step by Step 

Since RAID disks are displayed as physical disks, you can select that disk as soon as it is confirmed and clone the RAID disk as if it were a base disk.

Step 1. Connect your hardware RAID and check it in the Disk Management tool. Open AOMEI Backupper Standard and click Disk Clone under the Clone tab.

Step 2. Select the RAID disk as the source disk and click Next.

Step 3. Select a single drive (HDD or SSD) as the destination disk and click Next. Please note the destination partition will be overwritten, if there is any important data, please backup file in advance.

Step 4. By default, this free RAID array clone software will clone only used sectors to save disk space if you don't check Sector by Sector Clone below. Click SSD Alignment to improve SSD disk performance (eg: reading and writing speed) and tag on Start Clone to clone RAID disk in Windows 10 or 11.

If you clone RAID disk to a larger disk, please remember to check the Edit Partitions feature. It has three options in the following and is available in the advanced edition.

• Copy without resizing partitions: It will not resize the partition size.
• Add unused space to all partitions: It will reallocate the unallocated space to each partition of the target disk, appropriate for the disk size.
• Manually adjust partition size: It allows you to extend unallocated space to any partition on the destination disk you want. 

In addition, you can also enjoy one more useful feature: Convert the destination disk from MBR to GPT, or vice versa, especially useful when the source disk and destination disk have different disk partition style. For example, you can use it to clone MBR disk to GPT. 

Part 2: Clone Software RAID Disk Volume Step by Step 

If you want to create an exact copy of software RAID disk volumes, the Partition Clone feature will be the easiest solution. With AOMEI Backupper, you don't need to convert the dynamic disk to a basic disk at first, just follow these steps:

Step 1.  Connect your dynamic disk volume and be sure it's recognized. Launch the software, go to the Clone tab, and select Partition Clone.

Step 2. Select the volumes on the dynamic disk that you want to clone, then click Next.

Step 3. Choose the destination disk to save the dynamic volumes. It can be an unallocated space, a basic disk, or a dynamic disk. Click Next.

Step 4. Confirm the cloning operation and click Start Clone to clone RAID disk to HDD/SSD. You can also set the cloning options among SSD Alignment, Sector By Sector Clone, and Edit Partitions to optimize the RAID disk clone. 

Q & A: More about RAID Disk

Except for the best free RAID Array clone software for Windows 10/11 or previous systems, you may have a lot of unanswered questions about raid disks. Here we summarize the most common one. 

The End

AOMEI Backkupper Standard is a free RAID array clone software, which can help you clone RAID 0, 1, 5, etc., to a single drive or SSD within a few steps. It's worth noting that RAID has two disk types and cloning methods are slightly different. 

• For hardware RAID, clone the RAID disk as if it were a basic disk. In this case, try the Disk Clone feature.
• For software RAID, clone data volume with the Partition Clone feature. For system volume, try the System Clone feature. 

AOMEI Backupper

Best free RAID array clone software for personal use

Download Freeware
Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7

Either way, if your disk contains the system partition, try to upgrade this free RAID array clone software! You could consider using its Professional or Server edition, depending on the operating system you are using.  For details, check the edition comparison page.