OT - duplicate SQL server

[Smith, Matthew P -CONT(CSC)]

What is the best way to duplicate an entire SQL server from one instance to another?  I'd like to pull our production db's from our live sql server to a new dev instance.  I'd rather not kill the sql service to unlick the files.


Off the top of my head, I could:
1.  dts db by db
2.  copy mdfs/ldfs and attach db by db


But I'm hoping that there are some native functions within SQL that I could use that would not require a service shut down, and that would let me do the whole thing in one go.


Suggestions?


Thanks,


Matthew

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