Backup Exec 2012 slow backup rate to HP RDX Drive on a server running Windows 2008 SBS

[KevinLuke]

I am experiencing a very slow backup rate speed (230.00 MB/min) when backing up to an external HP RDX drive in BackupExec 2012. I am wondering if anyone else is/was experiencing this problem and if there are any ways to speed up this process. My nightly backups are literally taking 14 hours to complete and that is unacceptable.

On a side note, while running a job type of Catalog I am getting a rate of 6,533.00 MB from the same server to the same RDX drive.

[CraigV]

Hi,

Any AV running on that server that is perhaps scanning the BE services during your backup? Verify that and post back...

Thanks!

[KevinLuke]

It looks like Trend Micro is currently scanning the server while the backup is running. Should I disable the antivirus scanning during this period? Should I add exclusions to the scan?

[CraigV]

I'd suggest disabling it and running a backup. If it goes through faster, then put in exclusions.

[KevinLuke]

After further investigation I have found that Trend Micro real-time Antivirus/Anti-spyware is enabled. The method used is IntelliScan:uses "true file type" identification. I will try disabling it and let you know if it helps with the throughput. Thanks.

[KevinLuke]

The job rate increased from 230 MB/min to 257.73 MB/min last night when I disabled real-time scan. It is an improvement, but it seems like it should be running faster than that. I don't like disabling real-time scan if it isn't going to provide much of an improvement. Any more suggestions?

[CraigV]

OK...turn it back on. It's basically just a test, because if your speed increased substantially, I'd then have told you to put in exclusions for the BE services (might still not be a bad thing).

Are you using the Symantec drivers for the device? What happens if you backup local data on the media server (assuming you're backing up remote servers)?

THanks!

[KevinLuke]

I am only backing up the local machine. The selection list includes: most of the C: drive, Microsot SQL Server Instances, System State and the Microsoft Information Store. I am not backing up any remote servers. The RDX drive is connected directly to the SBS.

Where would I find Symantec drivers for the device?

On a side note, I have noticed that on the Home tab under Storage Status it says that No Storage Configured. It says that I must configure storage before I can run a backup. This cannot be true because I have been running backups and the device shows up in the Storage tab on the ribbon.

Again I appreciate all the help!

*Edit* We are using an RDX1000 1TB  External USB 3.0 Drive connected to a USB 2.0 port on the server.

[KevinLuke]

Added exclusions to prevent Trend Micro from scanning the RDX drive and the Symantec folder. This brought the job rate up to 363 MB/min. I also ran the Support Tool under the home button -> Technical Support. It showed me some potential problems on the system. Most of them related to permissions that were already in place. Now sure why they failed. It also recommended that I turn UAC off. Is it normal to turn UAC off a 2008 SBS server to help operations with Backup Exec 2012?

[CraigV]

UAC does cause issues with BE. Whether or not it is speed-related, I don't know. We always turn off UAC as it is.

That is a nice little speed increase. Your USB 2.0 port is going to be a bottleneck to the USB 3.0 drive. However, check and see if the drive you're backing up from isn't perhaps fragmented too...

[Colin_Weaver]

Just as examples

1) Live Update may not be able to install updates with UAC enabled

2) Although you can backup a VMware guest machine a redirected restore may not be possible with UAC enabled.

There are likely to be other parts of the product that might be broken by UAC. Hence recommend always disabled on the media server and may need to be considered depending on the configuration on remote servers.

However would it specifically affect speed, personally I would expect a denial of access (possibly against a timeout) to something resuting in job and/or operational failures.

[KevinLuke]

Disk was about 6% fragmented. I am defragging the disk now even though I do not think 6% is all that bad.

I have another update. The job speed I reported earlier was the speed near the end of the backup. The average backup speed was really 257.73 MB/min. The average has increased from two days ago, but it was not at the 363 MB/min mark. I will reboot the server after hours tonight to see if turning off UAC makes a difference.

Any more suggestions?

[KevinLuke]

I was curious why the average speed was slower than the actual speed I seen, so I ran a backup report to try to gather more information.

The transfer speed is 133 when backing up the system state.

The transfer speed is 144 when scanning the Microsoft Information Store\Public Folder Database.

The transfer speed is 183 when scanning Microsoft Information Store\Mailbox Database.

The transfer speed is 225 when backing up the SQL server.

The transfer speed when backing up the C: drive is 367.

Is it normal for there to be this much of a discrepancy in speed for different phases of the backup?

Remember that this is a SBS server and all backups are taking place on the same machine. There are no remote agents. There are no other servers. This is the only server on their network. There is only one backup job on this server.

Thanks.

[KevinLuke]

I am starting to think that there isn't much else to do. Does anyone out there use a 2.0 USB RDX device? What kind of transfer speeds are you seeing? Maybe I am just thinking that the throughput should be more than it realistically is. I was informed by a collegue that if I go into the properties RDX drive in the device manager -> Policies tab -> select better performance and it will speed up the transfer speed a little. The only problem with this is that it is necessary to eject the media when the backup is complete by right clicking on the drive and selecting eject media in windows explorer. If the drive is ejected manually backup exec will not see that and it causes problems. He also said with this selected under no circumstances eject the media via backup exec because it causes a memory leak and will crash the server.