How to backup filesystem structure incase I replace the HDD with a new one?

[spinnaker1]

If the harddisk of the Panasonic recorder someday fails and I want to replace it with a new 250GB 3,5" IDE HDD, I would have to write the MEIHDFSv2 filesystem structure to the new HDD, right?

Is there a way to create a very small image of the empty MEIHDFSv2 HDD, instead of storing huge full 250GB image? And is it possible to write that small image to the new HDD?

(Does it have to be a 250GB HDD? Or would 1 TB HDD also work?)