Slow backup

I have solved a similar problem by using multiple streams, this of cause is only feasible if the underlying system(s) can handle the extra load

My suggestion would be to do a bottle neck analysis looking at:

file system read using  bpbkar to nul

disk read on the client

network throughput from client to backup server, personally I have used iperf

disk write on the backup backend

How to benchmark the performance of the bpbkar32 process on a Windows client
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH1754 

We have in the past managed to cut down on backup time by breaking up the Backup Selection into multiple streams, e.g.:

NEW_STREAM
D:\Users\a*
D:\Users\b*
......
NEW_STREAM
D:\Users\m*
D:\Users\n*
.... 

etc.

4 streams will be a good start.

Check that Master Server Global Properties allows for minimum of 4 jobs per client.

You can let the 4 streams write to one tape drive by ensuring MPX in Storage Unit is set to 4 and Schedule in policy must also be set to 4.