asked on

Slow backup with new tape drive

We have just replaced our old tape drive with a new HP DLT VS160 tape. However we are getting very slow data rates. About 60MB per minute instead of 484MB per minute.
The server is a HP Proliant Server - ML350 G3 which has a HP/Compaq 64-Bit/66MHz Dual Channel Wide Ultra3 SCSI Adapter while the interface on the tape drive is Wide Ultra III SCSI-2 (LVD). We use Backup Exec 10.

Is there a way that we can speed up the backup to what it was before? Could it be the difference in interfaces that is causing the bottleneck?

David Wall

Is the adaptor just running the tape drive or is it running a disk pack also.

If so you may need a seperate scsi controller to get a decent speed out of it....

AJermo

It could be interfaces but it could also be termination issues. Verify you only have ONE terminator on this channel and that it's enabled/installed on the last EXTERNAL device on the SCSI bus.

mwitdept

ASKER

Wall ID: I think the adapter is just running the tape drive as there is seperate RAID controller
AJermo: I will check the termination but it was a straight swap, went on to the same connector on the cable.

mwitdept

ASKER

Turned off hardware compression last night and it ran at 350MB/s last night.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

mwitdept

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

mwitdept

ASKER

Have sorted out the access problem. The server is now showing that it is using a Symantec tape drive rather than an unknown one prior to the installation

mwitdept

ASKER

Seems it was to do with the tape driver and the version of BackupExec. It ran last night at 405MB/s

mwitdept

ASKER

All sorted now. It runs quicker than ever