There are two ways that OS X can create a disk image of an entire volume:
The first is a block copy. If the disk is not in use (no open files), the system can unmount it and read the raw blocks from the physical media. This is very fast; it'll basically write to the share as fast as the network will allow, so you're talking maybe 2-3 hours to back up 60 GB over 100baseT. The time might even go down if you select a "compressed" image rather than "read-only". (I don't remember if compressed was available in 10.3.) You'll note that since the disk must be unmounted, you can't be booted from it. You'll need to use another boot disk. Since you're trying to back up to a network volume, an OS installer disc probably won't do the trick. You'll need another Mac or a Firewire drive with the OS installed on it.
The second way is a file copy (this is how Carbon Copy Cloner does it, and Disk Utility will if you make an image from a folder instead of from a volume). The system initially creates a "sparse" image file (an image with a fixed maximum size, like 60 GB, that only actually takes up the amount of space that it needs, like 42 GB) and copies all the files from your source volume, one by one. This takes a long time because there is a lot of overhead. If you need to restore your entire disk from this type of image, it will also take a long time (and, for me, hasn't always resulted in a bootable volume). However, saving to a sparse image gives you flexibility; you could update it a few files at a time. CCC leaves you with a sparse image. If, using Disk Utility, you chose to create a read-only image via file copy, the system will first create a sparse image, copy all the data, then convert it to read-only. So this takes even longer, and it means the destination share must have double the space actually needed.
If you don't have another Mac or a Firewire hard drive you can boot from, making a full system dmg isn't all that useful. The reason is that you won't have any way of restoring it back to the hard drive because you'd need a different boot volume. So if you in fact don't have that equipment, it's probably best just to make disk images of /Users and keep copies of all application installers that can't be downloaded. Restoring your system will take longer, but if you don't have the extra equipment there's really no choice.
Dude these are freewares used for software backups try these :
1. Carbon Copy Cloner -
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
2. SuperDuper -
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDup...scription.html
Backup of the OS as an image....
Linear Mode
