Poor ArcServe backup performance 1

[Disty]

Hi all:

Here's the environment:

Compaq Proliant 6000
NT 4.0 SP6a
1.0 Gb RAM
(2) Internal Compaq DLT tape drives 1-35/70 1-40/80

Within the past week, we have been getting very poor performance from ArcServeIT 6.61 doing backups on the local machine using the 35/70 tape drive The backups now take at least twice as long as before. The data on the system has not gone up more than a couple hundred Mb. We've been averaging around 90Mb/min, and now average 40-45 MB/min.

The only thing changed on the server was an installation of a newer version of McAfee NetShield, but I've since eliminated that as being the problem. I've tried several cleaning tape cycles to no avail, and I've upped the RAM allocated to ArcServe backup Jobs. We use the 40/80 to backup other NT servers, and that backup job is usually finished before the local job begins. I tried doing a sample backup last week of local data using the 40/80 and got similar degraded performance, so I don't think it's the tape drive(s).

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[monkeylizard]

Disty, I just posted this in a new thread, but thought you could use it...may or may not help your situation, since it seems to only cause you grief on the local backup...

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Since there seem to be lots of database and performance related questions out there right now, I'm making this post to try to help out as many of you as I can.

I use ArcServeIT Advanced Edition 6.61 (Build834,SP2a) on Windows NT 4.0 (SP5). All information in this post is accurate for this configuration, but it will change for other OS's and ArcServe versions.

First of all I suggest that ALL ArcServeIT Admins take a look at Document # 16112 on the CA website.

http://support.ca.com/techbases/asnt/16112.html

This document is all about the RAIMA database and how to maintain it. RAIMA is the database type that ArcServeIT (at least 6.61) uses by default. You can specify Microsoft SQL for your database type during the initial install of ArcServe if you want, in which case all database maintaining must be done by a SQL Administrator.

There are basically four things you should be doing regularly with your database. These will help with a multitude of problems including performance since the database is used for all aspects of ArcServe.

They are Prune, Check, Repair, and Pack.

Prune
What: Removes old entries from the RAIMA database.
How to: From ArcServeIT Server Admin, click the Config button (wrenck and sprocket), select Database Engine tab and check the 'Enable Database Pruning' box. Schedule it to run once a day. It can run during your production day. Currently, I prune all entries after 30 days. You do not lose your data if you have older tapes, you'll just have to do a Merge of those old tapes if you need to restore from them later.
Problem: Leaves blank spots in the database causing it to eat disk space.

Check
What: Inspects the RAIMA database for errors
How to: Run the DBMGR.EXE program from the ARCSERVEIT directory on the ArcServeIT server. Sorry, CA didn't include this one in the StartMenu icons. I suggest you put a shortcut there. Select the 'Check' tab and Start a check on All Databases.
Problem: None

Repair
What: Repairs the database errors that Check finds.
How to: Run the DBMGR.EXE program again (should have a shortcut by now...HINT). Click the 'Repair' tab and run it on all databases.
Problem: Repairs can take a while, esp. the astpsdat database

Pack
What: Compacts the RAIMA database to re-claim disk space lost due to Pruning
How to: Run the DBMGR.EXE program from the icon you created earlier in your Start Menu. Click the 'Pack' tab and do a Full Pack on All Databases. After doing this once, and IF you are diligent about maintaining the databases, you can start using the Quick Pack.
Problem: This should only be done after a Repair has been done and this too can take a while.

Again, I can not stress this enough...I suggest that ALL ArcServeIT Admins take a look at Document # 16112 on the CA website.

http://support.ca.com/techbases/asnt/16112.html

Monkeylizard
-Isaiah 35-