dd is a straight razor, and if used well it can optimize disk transfer speeds for the specific hardware you're running on (for large data transfers). Don't bel

dd is a straight razor, and if used well it can optimize disk transfer speeds for the specific hardware you're running on (for large data transfers). Don't believe me? Use DD to create a sizable sample file (let's say 2 gigs or so) from rand and try copying that file to your disks with different block sizes (powers of two). Write a small script, and run all your tests with the time command to compare results. Go make dinner, and by the time you're back you should know the optimal block size you should run your fucking huge disk transfer at. dd is perfect as it is. It does exactly what you tell it to do.