File Contention Issue

[MasterRacker]

I have a program that pulls call reporting info from my phone system and stores it in an Access DB. The DB is updated every 15-20 min. (it doesn't seem to be a fixed interval). I'm seeing an occasional problem where the program stops with a write error to the DB. It seems to happen about the time Backup Exec would be hitting that server.

My theory is if BE is getting that file that same time the program is trying to update, I get a write error. Most days there is no problem and on days this does happen I can simply stop the program and restart to get it going again. I don't appear to be losing to data as it seems to continue to buffer even when the reporting program stops.

The way I see it I have two options at the moment:

1. Leave it the way it is. Most days I get a backup and I can restart manually when necessary.
2. Exclude the DB from the backup. The program never stops, but I'm stuck with manual backups of the DB.

I've thought of excluding the DB from backups and creating a scheduled batch file to copy the DB daily thinking it would run faster than the tape backup and reduce the contention window, but that's about all I can think of.

BTW, this is a COTS application so I don't have the option of changing it to use a real DB like SQL.

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Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[compuveg]

So have you looked into a command line way to stop this DB update service? Schedule that before the backup and start it up again afterwards.

Another idea would be to make part of the DB update's schedule to include copying the DB elsewhere. Then the actual DB could be excluded from backup and only the backup would be backed up.

 

[cckens]

That's what we do. Our SQL DB is backed up to disk every night at 8pm. Then at 11:30pm, BE runs and backs up to tape the disk backup... no harm no foul.

cckens

"Not always my best shot, but I hit the target now and then"
-me

 

[MasterRacker]

This is a commercial package that writes to a MDB file on a 24/7 basis approximately every 15 min. I have absolutely no control over when it writes to that file. What it's writing is call data from the phone system. There is no scheduling capability of any sort.

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Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[MasterRacker]

I forgot, the program automatically creates a backup when it is manually shut down but there is no automatic backup capability.

Think of 10 year old VB type architecture. The file is either there or it isn't. If the is an error, a modal dialog comes up and everything stops until manual intervention. There are no retries.

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Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]