Slow backup performance

[Ge0rgi]

Hi

We are using the backup exec 12.5 fully updated with a tape lib of HP StorageWorks 1/8 LTO4 (1 drive) SAS interface and dedicated CTL. The server is HP DL 380 G5 with windows 2003 server (Fully updated) that acts as a file server Tape and Lib Drivers are the latest. the tape is connected to it as the BE software is local

My problem is that I get very slow backup on the file server about 600MB/Min (the verify is 5000MB/MIn) total size is about 600GB composed from small files
And when I backup a Domain CTL the rate is better but still far from good (about 1.1GB/Min)

How can I improve the performance?

Thank you!

Amichy

[GISMC]

I have the same problem.  I was told that I needed to install the Backup Exec drivers for my tape drive.  I did that and for some strang reason, the drivers keep getting replaced.  If you find out what the solution is I would really like to know.  This problem has my backups running in the morning when we arrive for work.  NOT GOOD!

[RHSFC]

Mine are not even finishing in 24 hrs.....I dont know what i am going to do...I am lost. I am using 12.0 now i will try my last resort to update to 12.5 but i doubt if it will improve performance. 

[CraigV]

Backing up small files, and a large number of them will cause your backups to run slowly. The drive cannot stream the data to the tape at a constant rate. That's a possible reason why your backups are so slow.
Along with this, you can look at the speed of your network, and see if you have hard-coded your NICs and switch speeds to the maximum speed possible (ie. 1000MB FULL).
In Backup Exec itself, you can increase the size of your buffer, and I normally push mine to 1MB. That said, I can also only get my 650GB file server backed up in about 15 hours or so due to the number of files.
Your verify job will run quickly, as it's running through the tape to make sure all is OK with the data.
I use 12.5.

[RHSFC]

 The only thing is that the B2D of the file server is taking about 2hr 30 min while the duplicate to tape is taking between 6 to 8 hrs. I dont know why?

[TBailey]

Ours is running slowly too, and I have all new drivers and updates and everything as well.
What gets me is that we are switching to BE 12.5 from a different software called Novastor.
Novastor was able to backup to virtual AND then copy that to tape within 7 hours so everything was complete before we all came back in in the morning.
I was never comfortable with Novastor, so I am really wanting this switch to Backup Exec to go smoothly.
I just wish there was a start to finish guide on how to set things up, and how things should work.

[teiva-boy]

 For everyone expecting Backup Exec or any other Backup product to work and work with 100% of your throughput, you are seriously mistaken.

Backup apps by nature will find every weak link in your network, from disk I/O, file system inefficienies, LAN throughput, poor drivers(both LAN, SCSI, and tape), etc...

Backup tuning is no different than a hardcore gamer that tweaks every little setting in a video card to get the most frames per second (FPS)  


That said, look at disk tuning both disk alignment, and automated defrag tools, look at NIC trunking, B2D, block size changes to tape, and more...  There is no right answer, and becuase of the wide types of data, there is no silver bullet to this problem.  You can only test, change settings, and test again...

[CraigV]

If your B2D takes a shorter amount of time, then I'd look at upgrading your tape drivers in BE, and flashing the firmware on that device to cover that.
I've also added a link to read through from Symantec which may/may not help you.

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/231488.htm

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/285756.htm

I've normally increased the buffer and got a bit of extra speed out of it.

[RHSFC]

this evening i enabled the OPEN FILE option on this server and the backup to disk from the usual 2hr 30 min took 7hr 3 min with a backup rate of 285mb/min. So  the problem got bigger. the card is a one gb card. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[CraigV]

OK, then my initial assumption of LAN traffic is incorrect.
Is your autoloader/tape drive connected to the onboard SCSI/RAID card, or does it have a connection to its own SCSI card? HP doesn't recommend connecting a backup device to a local SCSI/RAID card.

[Alex_999]

Hi,

I was getting the same problem but for all of the servers. At the beginning of the month it was taking 6 hours. But at the end 12 hours. So I resolved the problem with cleaning tape 3 time and now it's back to 6hours.

Maybe that's won't be help but...

[RHSFC]

  The Tape Drive is a DELL PowerVault 132T and has a dedicated SCSI Card and the server is a DELL Power Edge 2900 with 4GB RAM and 2TB Hard Drives using RAID 5.

[RHSFC]

 The Tape Drive is a DELL PowerVault 132T and has a dedicated SCSI Card and the server is a DELL Power Edge 2900 with 4GB RAM and 2TB Hard Drives using RAID 5.

[CraigV]

OK...uninstall the SCSI card drivers, and reinstall them and see if this fixes the issue. Is the SCSI ID set correctly too?
Reading from RAID5 is fairly quick, so it shouldn't be bottlenecking there.