Restatement of problem:
Description of the problem: Intermittantly, ie it works some days... or
even weeks at a time without error and then the backup seems to hang. It
hangs on any one of 3 out of 4 machines: The copy phase is done, and then
the verification process starts but it never finishes. The tapes are not
corrupted. We come in in the morning, see the hung backup and stop it.
Then we simply re-run the backup. It verifies that the machines have been
backed up, backs up a few remaining files, cleans up and quits... the job
is done. Why do we have to re-run the backup? Oh, of course, if the
machine it hung on is the second or third, then the others don't get
backed up. The morning re run then takes more time. The client slows down
a bit, etc... Interestingly, one of the 4 machines is used exclusively
for FMPro DB serving and the backup has NEVER stopped there. What is
going on?
The solution:
It turned out to be the following - Change the tape format from a 3080
tape with 4 gig compressed capacity to a Travan format tape with 8 gig
capacity. Then we rescripted the backup to do a Complete Backup once per
month and then an incremental for the balance of the month. Getting the
complete backup took a couple of attempts, but once that was done, the
incrementals have gone without a hitch.
Some may argue that a once per month is risky but on balance, compared
to the previous random and sometimes frequent failed backups, the once
per month strategy has been flawless and overall, I feel, now the risk of
data loss is lower.
Thanks to all who responded with helpful suggestions.
////////////////////////////////////////////////
/// ///
/// Paul White ///
/// Advertising ///
/// Story House Corporation ///
/// Bindery Lane ///
/// Charlotteville, NY 12036 ///
/// ///
/// <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ///
/// <http://www.story-house.com> ///
/// phone: 607-397-8725 ///
/// ///
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