slow backup on W2k8

[davidbe]

Hi everyone,

Noticed something weird and I hope someone has an idea whats going on:

NetBackup 7
master solaris 10
media solaris 10 and windows 2003 (32 bits)

Here's what I got:

backup of windows 2003 clients works just fine, got speed up to 15000-17000 KB/s
same policy but with Windows 2008 clients, speed starts at 12000 and goes steadily down to 4000-6000 KB/s

from there, I tested the backups from the master and from a unix media and windows media server with the same results, so I ruled out the platform impact.
I had a look at whats happening on the client side as well. On the 2k3 client, the bpbkar32.exe goes up to 100% CPU when listing the backup and then to a normal average 30% usage.  On the 2k8 it goes up to 100% and stays there until the backup is done.  From there, I went to the Windows guys and they told me that the registry on the 2k8 could be up to 6-7Go on a brand new server.  Willingly to rule out the obvious, I tried a backup of the C:\ without the system state and got the same speed results. I'm waiting for those guys to provide a different drive with data for me to test on to completely rule out the registry.

Before opening a case, does anyone got the same issue? any ideas? solution?

Thanks
David

[Sriram]

Have you ever seen backups running on good speed on the windows 2008 servers ?  If Yes, did you noticed any activity being carried out in your environment. 

If no, pls check you duplex and speed setting for the NIC card on media server, windows 2008 clients and the network switch they are connect to.   Also do you have ISL setup in you environment?

[davidbe]

Well, tried backing up another drive than C and it works just fine 18000KB/s, so its plainly related to the C drive.

I also noticed that most of the file backup is working fine (around 10000KB/s) but at the end of the backup it freezes the cpu, so I assume its the system state that is the problem.

Sriram:
yes like I explained there is a difference and no there was nothing worth noticing in the environment.  Moreover, I tried this in my lab and then reproduced the same behavior in production, different masters, different ESX, different clients same results.  Yes I checked the NICs and wether its autosense or forced at 1Gbps Full I get the same problem.

My best bet will be opening a case at Symantec, will post the outcome!

Thanks

[Andy_Welburn]

You could of course prove that definitively by just backing up the System_State or Shadow_Copy_Components directive.

***EDIT***
Or attack it from the other direction & exclude same from the backup.

[davidbe]

I tried backing up only the System_state and it definetaly is the problem.

40 minutes for the system state only. I made some research on the internet and it seems that its kind of a known fact that the system state on 2k8 is quite large and may cause slowness.   

The other interesting thing I found out is that it max up the Context switching token which is quite bad for a VM.  I'll have the VMWare guy look into this and keep you posted

[Andy_Welburn]

It is at that!