robriley Posted June 1, 2007 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 Hi, I run an OS X 10.4.9 Retrospect Server which is backing up a Windows 2003 Server and an OS X Server. Connected to the OS X Server via dual fibre channel is an Infortrend RAID Unit. The Windows Server and system drive on the OS X Server back up fine but Retrospect continually crashes while backing up the RAID. This has been going on for months now. I previously suspected bad filenames and used file renaming software to remove all suspect characters. I also suspected that the sheer volume of data was the problem so I separated all of the RAID folders into volumes in Retrospect but the problem persists (although it appeared to improve briefly.) Has anyone else had issues with 1) filenames or 2) high volumes of data and does anyone have any other suggestions? Many thanks, Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennart_T Posted June 1, 2007 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 Quote: does anyone have any other suggestions? Although you have given us some information, many important pieces are left out. I quote rhwalker. Please provide: (1) complete version number of Retrospect (2) complete version number of Retrospect Driver Update (3) complete version number of the OS (4) complete description of hardware being used. (5) complete description of the steps you are doing (6) complete description of the problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robriley Posted June 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 Retrospect runs on an OS X 10.4.9 machine and is backing up a 10.4.9 Server connected to an Infortrend RAID A16F unit. Retrospect is version 6.1.126 and the client version on the OSX Server is 6.1.130. During backups Retrospect will grind to a halt to the point where you can't even force quit it. Sometimes it has caused a Kernel Panic on the machine and even a complete freeze. The machine is restarted, the catalogue repaired and the process starts over. Sometimes it works. I have been monitoring it for a long time and the system seems less happy with large amounts of data (some of the volumes are over 500GB) although I have known it to crash while backing up small amounts of data too. Trying to create a post-recycle fresh backup is always a nightmare. The problem is only ever when backing up the RAID unit but the RAID unit otherwise shows no errors or problems and works very well. At the moment my only solution to maintain a backup is to keep rebuilding the catalogue post-crash and set it running again until it gets there. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeDave Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 Quote: Retrospect continually crashes while backing up the RAID What Type of Backup Set are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 and how much memory is on the Retrospect machine? and what Retrospect Driver Update (RDU)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robriley Posted June 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 A removable disk set. Wiebetech traydock USB2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robriley Posted June 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 The backup machine is a dual 1GHz PowerMac G4 with 1.25GB RAM. No RDU installed - I thought that was only relevant to tape systems.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted June 8, 2007 Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 Quote: The backup machine is a dual 1GHz PowerMac G4 with 1.25GB RAM. That's about 1/2 of the RAM you need for backups of the size you mention (volumes over 500 GB). That may be your problem. The machine is also quite underpowered, but that's just a performance issue. Quote: No RDU installed - I thought that was only relevant to tape systems.? Wrong, but it may not help you with a removable disk set. Bug fixes are sometimes provided via RDU. I suggest you try RDU 6.1.9.102 - some people are reporting problems with the 6.1.10.100: RDU Version History Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robriley Posted June 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2007 Thanks for the advice - much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeDave Posted June 9, 2007 Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 Quote: Sometimes it has caused a Kernel Panic on the machine and even a complete freeze KPs are usually hardware related in some way. So unless you are using multiple fixed platter hard drives as Members of your Removable Backup Set (which treats the drive as a hardware device) I'd try writing your files to a File Backup Set stored on the external drive (where it's treated as a local volume). If the freezes and crashes go away, you've identifed the Wiebetech as the cause of the problem. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robriley Posted June 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 This issue still isn't resolved. I think the problem is some loss of connectivity between the RAID and Retrospect which is going via the network (GB) because the G4 running Retrospect is not the machine the RAID is connected to. Network connections are fine and the RAID doesn't otherwise present any connectivity problems during normal user access - only when communicating with Retrospect. Data is flowing as follows: [infortrend RAID] >Dual Fibre Channel> [G5 Server] >GB Network> [G4 Retrospect] >USB2> [Wiebetech Traydock] Something in this path is causing a problem. Is anyone else running a setup like this? Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeDave Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 Quote: This issue still isn't resolved Based on the suggestions you have been given on the thread, what have you changed so far? Are you still running 1.25 GB of RAM? Have you installed an RDU for Retrospect? Have you tried using a File Backup Set? How exactly does the "crash" manifest itself? Do you always force-quit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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