Backup Exec - Unusually, scary slow

[DEvans]

Hey guys and girls,

The guys and myself are have major issues over the length of time Backup Exec is backing up the Shadow Copy Components.

The size of the overall backup is roughly 500GB and is backed up by going over the network to our dedicated backup Server which then saves the data on an external hard drive connected via USB 2.0.

Understandably, we expect it to be a little slow but at the moment the length of time it is taking is..

>110 Hours.

Yeh.. The drive has been checked of course for any failures and has been fine.

Generally all our other backups have been OK with no failures and Symantec Backup Exec is generally working in the way it should.

Our Specs for the backup server:

Microsoft Server 2008 R2
Pentium D 3.00Ghz 2.99hz
3GB RAM

External Seagate 1TB Hard Drive with USB 2.0 connection

Gigabit Infrastructure throughout

Symantec Backup Exec 12.5

Obviously this is just stupid, We expect the time to be long but never this long, we want it done in at most a day! Never seen a backup to extend this long before.

Our current theories are that Shadow Copy Components might have corrupt data within it or the fact that it technically is just hundreds (probably thousands) of individual files. It's not like backing up a database, its individual ones.

If anyone can help or give advice it would be much appreciated. We will be updating Symantec soonish, giving us a fresh start on the backup procedure, but there is no guarantee that this would solve the issue.

Thanks!

[FN-GM]

I myself and i know others that have had problems with the Shadow Copy Components in Server 2008 R2. Also i didnt think that Backup Exec 12.5 was supported on 2008 R2? I thought you needed version 2010?

Have you updated Backup Exec or run Windows Updates recently?

[m25man]

Windows 2008 R2 is only partially supported by 12.5 with the appropriate Hotfix & Service Packs.
You should not install BE12.5 on a 2008R2 Server, but you can target one as a backup source from a 2003 Media server.

•Added Support for Windows 2008 R2 Operating systems (File System, System State, Shadow Copy Components Only). Backup Exec Remote Agent (RAWS) support only.
•All other Backup Exec Options such as SQL, ADBO, IDR and Exchange as well as features such as the following are not supported.
•Installing a full version of Backup Exec 12.5 as a media server on a Windows 2008 R2 Server.
•Hyper-V: When protecting Windows 2008 R2 Hyper-V hosts using the Agent for Microsoft Virtual Server Windows (AMVS) GRT tape backups are NOT supported. Windows 2008 R2 Hyper-V GRT backups to disk are supported. If a Windows 2008 R2 Hyper-V GRT tape backup is required the backup must run to disk first then duplicated to tape.
•Native and Boot from VHD
•File Classification Infrastructure (FCI)
•Clustered Shared Volumes (CSV)

Check back through your backup logs did this suddenly start to fail?
The log should show you when this started to happen, then check the detailed logs for the pre and post backup jobs eg. the one that worked fine then the next one.
This normally shows up a file selection issue. It can also be due to a file that is locked or one that has changed due to a service pack.
You may need to delete the selection list and create a new one.

[teejay]

Are indexing or compression enabled on either the target drive on your backup server or the external usb drive?

[IanT]

look at the job logs and it will tell you where things are taking long.

How does your backup operate atm, does it backup direct to the USB drive?

[Butuz]

I'd focus my attention of the USB hard drive as the likely culprit. Also does your motherboard deffo support USB 2? If it's as old as it sounds, it may be running USB1...

Can you do a back up to a local hard drive to test this theory?

Butuz

[IanT]

In my last place the previous NM was backing up too a 1Tb USB 2.0 disk and backups were failing, overrunning, taking about 100+ hours..........binned it got a tape drive and got the backup down too 8 hours.

I also implemented a Backup2Disk which ran after the tape to a couple of SAS disks.

As above I bet its the USB disk, would never backup hundred and hundred of gigs to a USB disk on a large network.