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Disk imaging

Disk imaging

Nov 10, 2022

DANNNG provides a list of factors to weigh in the decision between physical sector-by-sector ('raw') and logical copies: https://dannng.github.io/disk-imaging-decision-factors.html (the page uses 'disk imaging' to stand for physical disk images).

Harvard Library contracted a comparative study of disk image formats with respect to their adoption and sustainability. The report is available on the website of Harvard Library:

https://wiki.harvard.edu/confluence/display/digitalpreservation/Disk+Image+Formats

The report recommends the following disk image file formats for different types of carrier:

  • Magnetic storage device - physical sector-by-sector copy or logical file system copy

    • uncompressed: RAW (IMG, DD), unless disk image exceeds size limit

    • compressed

      • RAW (IMG, DD) with TAR.GZ or ZIP compression applied

      • E01 using zlib compression option

  • Optical storage device - physical sector-by-sector copy

    • uncompressed: BIN/CUE

  • Optical storage device - logical file system copy

    • uncompressed: ISO