How to clone current hdd to usb flash disk

[areels]

Hello, i'd like to free our hdd's from esxi 4.1 servers. Is it possible to clone hdd's to 8gb of flash drives with dd ? How can i do it if possible, i know how to copy small drive to larger but larger to small. Any help appreciated,

[continuum · Accepted solution]

You want to clone the esxi-setup to a USB-stick ?

that could be done with dd - but only if the existing esxi does not use more than those 8 Gb