Arcserve 2000 crashes my server

[Guest_imported]

I am on the 30 day trial licence for Arc2000 running nt. With only the services running my server crashes regularly with no apparent reason. Also backup of distributed servers in the SAN loop is pathetically slow. I use the following options, DR,Img, SAN, SBO, TLO, BAOF and CA Tech support are xxxx. I am desperate pls help asap if you can.

 

[ArcservePro]

Your configuration is not an unusual one, however there are many components to consider when searching for the cause of system crashes and poor performance.

Verify the following before attempting problem resolution.

1. Check all SAN and tape hardware against the CA Certified Device List. It is important to use the list expressly for Serverless backup as you indicated you are using this option. Verify that all firmware levels on devices are at or greater than certified levels.

2. WIndows 2000 should be at SP1

3. Arcserve 2000 should be patched with SP2 after all Product Options are installed. There are additional patches on the CA website that may apply to your config. as well.

4. Review all settings and parameters on the Fibre Channel HBAs. Make sure that they are consistent with othre HBAs, the Switch/Hub and the Router/Bridge. Pay particular attention to LUN assignments. Both the router and HBA handle assignments, so they must be consistent across all hosts otherwise ARcserve's view of SAN devices will be differ across hosts. Remember that the Primary Arcserve server determines Tape Resource availability/configuration and propogates this to the Distributed servers.

5. Your performance problem may be due to the fact that you are using an Arbitrated Loop Hub. Once multiple devices (>2) start to communicate on the loop, the shared bandwidth and lengthy arbitration process tend to reduce performance. CHeck performance with only two nodes communicating. You can upgrade to a switched hub or full fabric switch to alleviate performance problems related to multiple conversations.

6. Check for conflicts with other real-time device drivers in the systems. ie. anti-virus apps, open file agents, remote control, etc.


The next step would be to list some system details, kick the system into debug mode and create some logs of the activity during startup. Chris Horvath - True Data Storage Networks Inc. - New York City
Premier CA VAR, Arcserve Training Center, StorageTek Dealer
arcserve_pro@yahoo.com

 

[Guest_imported]

I have resolved all problems above. Thanks to thorough licencing of Arcserve 2000. My final problem is this - Using the SAN option, I have a primary and 2 distributed servers. One of the distributed servers can 'see' the library configuration while the other reports it incorrectly and with a 'locked' status. I need to have this server accuratly report the config of the Primary and hence participate fully in the SAN environment.

 

[ArcservePro]

If any of your distributed servers are not displaying the same tape configuration as the primary you have a synchronization problem.

To prevent this problem, always shutdown all the distributed server tape engines before shutting down the primary server tape engine. After the primary tape engine is restarted, restart the distributed tape engines.

To solve this problem, make sure that the SAN Topology Service has been correctly installed and running on each server. Check Control Panel/Services in NT. If not, reinstall Arcserve on the offending node.

If the problem does not clear up, shut all tape engines, delete the hives in the registry corresponding to the ARcserve tape engine device and group configuration on the offending server. It can be found in Hkey_Local_Machine\Software\Computer Associates\ArcserveIT\Base\Tape Engine
The Hive names are DEVICE0, DEVICE1, etc. and GROUP0, GROUP1. Also Delete CHanger_CFG

Restart the primary, then restart the offending distributed. The tape engine configuration should match.

Let us know if this helps.

Chris Horvath - True Data Storage Networks Inc.
Expert Arcserve Consulting, Training and Sales

http://www.truedatasan.com

Chris Horvath - True Data Storage Networks Inc. - New York City
Premier CA VAR, Arcserve Training Center, StorageTek Dealer
arcserve_pro@yahoo.com