Performance Measurement Problem

[Stillman]

 

 

I am running Retrospect 4.3 with Mac OS 9.1, backing up to an Ecrix VXA-1 tape drive using an Advansys 2940U2W SCSI card.

 

 

 

I have been observing failures in tracking performance, especially during recycle backups. I have been debugging some network problems, live performance tracking in Retrospect is important. As you can see below, Retrospect has reported 0.0 compare, and a total execution speed double that of the copy operation. Retrospect does do the comparison successfully in an appropriate amount of time, but seems to turn off the timer during that operation. I think the symptom shows more when a larger (say 6GB) backup is being done.

 

 

 

One hopes this isn't creeping bit rot setting in!

 

 

 

I was disappointed that I could not talk with a live person without paying a lot of bucks. This looks like a Retrospect bug to me. I've been a user of Retrospect since it first came out for the Mac. I've always described it as incredibly well supported. I hope I won't be disappointed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+ Recycle Backup using 1 Routine Backup at 9/3/2002 8:54 AM

 

To backup set Ecrix B…

 

9/3/2002 8:54:01 AM: Recycle Backup: the backup set was reset

 

 

 

- 9/3/2002 8:54:01 AM: Copying Oracle

 

9/3/2002 9:23:43 AM: Comparing Oracle

 

9/3/2002 9:23:43 AM: Execution completed successfully

 

Completed: 21104 files, 6.6 GB

 

Performance: 478.9 MB/minute (239.4 copy, 0.0 compare)

 

Duration: 00:29:42 (00:01:42 idle/loading/preparing)

 

 

 

- 9/3/2002 9:23:43 AM: Copying SuzPower on Susan Stillman’s Computer

 

 

 

 

[AmyJ]

In reply to:

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I was disappointed that I could not talk with a live person without paying a lot of bucks. This looks like a Retrospect bug to me.

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When a call to Dantz Technical Support results in a finding a bug in the software, the support charges are _always_ refunded.

 

 

 

That being said, when you are running the actual backup, Retrospect should be displaying performance data on the screen. Do you see performance rates when the compare pass is running?

 

 

 

Looking back in your logs, has this problem consistently the entire time you've been running backups or is this a new issue?

 

 

 

Try temporarily removing the Retrospect preference folder, and trying backup again - do you see correct performance data?

 

 

 

As a test, try backing up to a file on your hard drive (room permitting) - do you see complete performance data?

[Stillman]

Thanks for the suggestions Amy.

 

 

 

Replacing the preferences file did make the problem go away. I had to re-enter a lot of settings afterwards since the prefs file contains all the scripts.

 

 

 

This is the first time I have had a corrupted preference file in about twelve years of using Retrospect. Amazingly stable program in my experience. I would have tossed the prefs on a lesser program a long time ago.

 

 

 

I have been struggling with Exabyte VXA-1 drive problems. Their tech support is really hard to get in touch with. One suggestion I got today from them is that I have a corrupted driver for the tape drive. So, I guess I'll try reinstalling Retrospect 4.1 then 4.3 upgrade since I guess that is where the driver for the VXA-1 drive lives.