Slow tape backup BE2008 R3 to Quantum SuperLoader3

Are you using Symantec or Qantum drivers?

From the Devices Tab, check the properties of the drive

Make sure that both "Single Block" options are NOT selected

What are the settings for Block Size, Buffer Size and Number of Buffers?

Hi Ken,

If you had asked me that question earlier today, I would have said "Symantec" because I always select the "Use Symantec drivers" when installing Backup Exec but I did check that earlier and both the Quantum SuperLoader 3A library and the LTO-3 drive were using Quantum drivers. I'm not sure when they ended up getting installed. Maybe during Windows update?

So I went through the process in BE of installing the drivers. After a reboot, device manager showed Symantec drivers for the tape drive, but still using Quantum for the Quantum SuperLoader. Not sure if this is how it's supposed to be or should both library & drive be using Symantec drivers? I've lost the opportunity to try some more tests today so will pick up again tomorrow.

"Write single block mode" and "Write SCSI pass-through" were both enabled when I started looking into this problem (see slow2.png). I turned off both these options as recommended in a forum post I found on here. It didn't seem to make much difference (do you need to reboot?). Slow3.png shows how they are now.

I've just had a gander in the logs and there is something that worries me. During start-up, lots of devices and services are showing errors. The log goes back to when this server was built (30 days ago) and they have been there from the start. This could be connected with two other symptoms we're seeing on this pretty-basic Windows 2008 server. Firstly, it takes a long time to get to the point where the user can logon. Normally a W2k8 box comes up in a minute or two. With this server, I have to wait about 10 minutes before it responds to the remote desktop logon. Secondly, I get the "Discovering devices" shown in the devices tab for about 15 minutes. I think the later isn't especially unusual though - something to do with ping of deduplication targets.

So later...

Cheers, Rob.

The Quantum drivers for the Loader is correct.  Either Symantec or Quantum can work for the drive itself.  I was going to suggest swapping, but you have already done that

Sounds like rebuilding the media server may be your next step

To save all your current setting see

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH62744

Hi Ken - thanks for the link. Would that preserve de-duplication storage folder and database as well? I'd read that it was impossible to DR a deduplication storage folder (aside from restoring from other media server).

I've got an early image of this server before BE has gone on there. Tomorrow, I'll restore to that to see if the device errors are still present in the log.

I have a feeling we'll end up trashing this install... not good!

Cheers, Rob.

Definately something amis with this installation. That same 15GB that took NT Backup just over 8 minutes to complete took BE 2010 R3 2 hours and 10 minutes - approximately 18 times slower.

There are some intruiging VSS errors in the application log at the same time the backup was running. Intruiging because the test job doesn't have advanced open file enabled...

Tomorrow's test of rolling back to pre: BE and trying a quick test install will be the final test before raising a support call.

Cheers, Rob.

It also indeed Windows update that probably put the Quantum driver on there. Just run Windows update and it was shown as an optional update. I thought "What the heck..." so installed it and, not surprisingly, it has changed the device driver.

Cheers, Rob.

I've rolled the server back prior to the installation of Backup Exec and the event log is clean. Not of those nasty "service not starting errors". Also, the boot time and first logon are as normal for a server - none of the 15+ minute delays seen when the system had BE (and more Windows updates) on there.

For a laugh, I'm installing (whisper) ArcServer trial to see how it gets on with the test backup to tape.

If all is well there, I'll roll back the server again and try clean installation of BE 2010 R3.

Something obviously went wrong after the installation of BE... finger not pointed totally at BE yet though.

Cheers, Rob.

Restore server back to pre-BE 2010 R3, re-install BE 2010 R3 but without live updates or other drivers than the one that came with Windows 2008 for the library (circa 2006) and the Symantec ones for the LTO-3 drive (circa 2008) and the backup speed is a whopping 3,470 MB/min (with compression) which is 30 times faster than the current image is managing.

So the question is what exactly went wrong in the build... all that was done on top of the above was a) install live updates, b) install more Windows updates and c) configure B2D & dedupe storage systems. Not much opportunity there for me, the end user, to make mistakes.

I'll go through one by one, taking lots of images.

Out of interest, on this clean install, both "Write single block mode" and "Write SCSI pass-through mode" are checked so doesn't sound like that was the cause of the original fault.

Cheers, Rob.

Another day, another roll-back and detailed installation of "things" on our media server trying to repeat this problem.

Except today, I've got a breakthrough. Install the device driver for an external USB 3.0 host controller (from StarTech) and some weird "WD SES Device" that comes with a WD "My Book Essential" (crap name) external hard drive and BE starts reporting snapshot errors with tape, like we're getting on the live media server. Tape backup speed is still fine so not exactly the same situation but good to isolate the cause of at least one error.

Cheers, Rob.