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Slow VCB Backup after Netbackup move from Win 2003 to Win 2008 R2

Created: 05 Oct 2010 | 4 comments
SvenKessler's picture
SvenKessler
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Hello,

after doing some Buffer changes (https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/de/forums/very-slow-tape-backup-after-changing-windows-2003-2008-r2 ) most of our backups work fine. (client based and vSphere API)

But we do have some VCB based backups which mounts our fileserver vmdk to the backup system. It's a big vmdk with almost 1.6 TB. This backup is still extremely slow. No more than maximal 10 MB/s are possible. On Windows 2003 i got 20-24 MB/s.

I've tried all the tuning parameters from this article: http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?pag...
But no one seems to speed up vcb based backups.

Best regards

Sven

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Stuart Green's picture
05
Oct
2010
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Stuart Green

Confirm latest VCB 1.5 U2

Confirm latest VCB 1.5 U2 installed.

What options within the snapshot policy client configuration for VCB have you chosen?

Tip: If you have a virus scanner on the backup (proxy host) disable.

Is your 1.6TB disk full of small files or directories with large number of files?

Confirm the following:

 

cut from NetBackup VMware Guide 7.0

 

Incremental backups of virtual machines must be based on timestamps, not on
archive bit. You must configure the NetBackup client on the VMware backup host
as described in this section.

" Perform incrementals based on archive bit"

 

For VCB backups
When backing up virtual machines with VCB, note the following regarding the
snapshot mount point on the VMware backup host (formerly called backup proxy):
■ On the backup host, the file system that contains the snapshot mount point
undergoes extensive I/O during full virtual machine backup. For this reason,
the file system should reside on a high performance device.
■ On the backup host, the file system that contains the snapshot mount point
should be reserved for snapshots only. It should also be on a dedicated SCSI
or Fibre Channel bus.
■ The file system that contains the snapshot mount point should be routinely
defragmented. A heavily fragmented file system can adversely affect backup
performance.
■ To increase backup throughput on the backup host, define multiple snapshot
mount points. Each mount point should be created on a disk that is connected
on its own disk bus (such as SCSI or IDE). Thus, I/O activity that one policy
creates can be isolated from I/O activity that other policies create.

Tip: Get overview/document your NBU environment. Run 'nbsu' and review the output.

• If this provides help, please vote or mark appropriate solution.

SvenKessler's picture
05
Oct
2010
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SvenKessler

Hello, the latest VCB is

Hello,

the latest VCB is installed and there is no virus scanner on the proxy host. The disk is a file server disk with many small files like word and excel documents.

We have followed most of the steps mentioned in the NetBackup VMware Guide. But most of them are important when doing full vmware backups. We are "only" doing mapped file backups with vcb. And the wired thing is that on the old win2k3 system the backup speed was at least two times faster.

Best regards

Sven

problemsolver's picture
11
Nov
2010
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problemsolver

Sven,   Did you ever resolve

Sven,

 

Did you ever resolve you issue? I have been expricencing simular slowness usingLTO Tape drive on Windows 2008.

 

Jeff

Marianne van den Berg's picture
15
Jan
2011
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Marianne van den Berg
Trusted Advisor
Accredited
Certified

See this TN:

See this TN: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH145791

Problem

The Windows 2008 R2 x64 platform may encounter slower backup performancing using Netbackup 7 when running local backups. There are 3 known issues that have affected Netbackup running on Windows 2008 R2 platforms.

Supporting Storage Foundation and VCS on Unix and Windows as well as NetBackup on Unix and Windows.
Handy NBU links

Technical Support

Symantec.com

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