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M_Selinger's avatar
M_Selinger
Level 3
15 years ago

Backup Exec 12.5 Memory error

Hi There,
I'm looking for any bit of advice on what seems to be a fairly simle issue.  I have a dell poweredge 2950, 32 bit Server 2003 hooked up to MD3000 storage enclosure.  The storage enclosure has 26 TB available!  Backup Exec is loaded on the server and is able to run backups of the onboard raid 5 fine and with decent speed.  On the external enclosure I'm getting really slow speeds...maybe 200 MB/min.  When i cancel the job I'm getting this error in the log.

AOFO: Initialization failure on: "F:". Advanced Open File Option used: Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). V-79-10000-11165 - Snapshot provider reports "Out of memory".

I've applied the patches that it advises with out any change.  Anyone have any ideas?  Does the virtual memory that needs to be adjusted.  Thanks for any help you can provide.






Backup and Recovery
Backup Exec
  • M_Selinger's avatar
    M_Selinger
    15 years ago
    In case your wondering....here's what worked.

    We upgraded the OS's to Server 2008 x64 and immediately saw performance gains.  The backups sped up to a respectable rate and the directory browsing was snappier.  Also, shadow copy is working properly.  

    Thanks for your input.
  • Dev_T's avatar
    Dev_T
    Level 6
    15 years ago
    Hello,

    Install the VSS Rollup Patch http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940349 (Reboot Required)

    Hope this helps...
  • teiva-boy's avatar
    teiva-boy
    Level 6
    15 years ago
    You really should be running a 64bit OS on that box!

    Add to that, Win2k8 is better performing than Win2k3.  But you can tweak a few things in Win2k3 to make it close.

    Main thing, delete all of your partitions, and re-do them with the disk alignment set correctly (most admin's never do this on Win2k3 or 2k)
    Format using larger sectors, use a RAID setting using larger blocks.

    From a disk I/O perspective, it'll improve performance anywhere from 10-30%.
  • M_Selinger's avatar
    M_Selinger
    Level 3
    15 years ago
    I installed the VSS patch and rebooted.  Still really slow speeds.  

    If i recall correctly when I formatted the drive it was a 64k blocks.  Does that sound right.  I think you're right about the Win2k8 upgrade and 64 bit.  For now I just need to get a good full backup. 

    Thanks again for the assistance and any other ideas that folks have.
  • M_Selinger's avatar
    M_Selinger
    Level 3
    15 years ago
    In case your wondering....here's what worked.

    We upgraded the OS's to Server 2008 x64 and immediately saw performance gains.  The backups sped up to a respectable rate and the directory browsing was snappier.  Also, shadow copy is working properly.  

    Thanks for your input.
  • teiva-boy's avatar
    teiva-boy
    Level 6
    15 years ago
    Just an FYI..  in Win2k3 when you partition a disk with the disk manager, it writes to the first sector at an offset that is not aligned to how data is written to disk.

    Now if you use the command line diskpart.exe, with the command "create part logical align=64"  All problems are fixed, and you get a 10-20% boost in Disk I/O speeds.

    With Win2k8, on any new partition, this is solved and not an issue.  If you re-used the Win2k3 partitions, you still need to do the above manual command, or delete and re-create via the disk manager.