backup across router problem

Hello

Im having problems doing a backup across routers from 1 of my server
machines. This works fine on the machines located in the next
switchports etc.

Problem is:

I do a backup to a network drive or from a server on another network.
The backup works at first, sending between 100k and 5mb of data with a
very unstable speed then it just quits saying "network name is no longer
available" or "the network disk has stopped responding".

All other machines works fine to backup to/from except this one.
Latency is 2ms and all other protocols, for example SMB works fine.

From what I understand ntbackup uses the Raw SMB protocol and thats the
only protocol I've found behaving like this.


What could be the cause of this?


/daniel heimburg

Answered in microsoft.public.windows.server.general. Here it is again:

Sounds like you could have a faulty switchport on the router or a resource
problem at the problem machine itself. What OS is the problem machine
running? Is it fully patched and drivers up-to-date? Also note that some
routers are not enterprise class and will tend to deteriorate after a while
in performance unless they are rebooted. And sometimes they peak in
performance at a level beneath acceptable norms.

--
Todd J Heron, MVP Windows Server - Networking
MCSE - Windows Server 2003/2000/NT; CCA

Todd J Heron [MVP] wrote:
> Answered in microsoft.public.windows.server.general. Here it is again:
>
> Sounds like you could have a faulty switchport on the router or a
> resource problem at the problem machine itself. What OS is the problem
> machine running? Is it fully patched and drivers up-to-date? Also note
> that some routers are not enterprise class and will tend to deteriorate
> after a while in performance unless they are rebooted. And sometimes
> they peak in performance at a level beneath acceptable norms.
>

This is windows server 2003 100% patched, I've tried everything now
except changing the switchport.. the routers are cisco and ran by a
major isp (who have been checking their machines for errors but couldnt
find anything).

The only other thing I can think of is SMB locking. If some other
program gains exclusive access and locks the file, your SMB connection can
time out before the lock is removed. This usually produces a meesage such as
"network name is no longer available".

Daniel Heimburg wrote:
> Todd J Heron [MVP] wrote:
>> Answered in microsoft.public.windows.server.general. Here it is
>> again: Sounds like you could have a faulty switchport on the router or a
>> resource problem at the problem machine itself. What OS is the
>> problem machine running? Is it fully patched and drivers
>> up-to-date? Also note that some routers are not enterprise class
>> and will tend to deteriorate after a while in performance unless
>> they are rebooted. And sometimes they peak in performance at a
>> level beneath acceptable norms.
>
> This is windows server 2003 100% patched, I've tried everything now
> except changing the switchport.. the routers are cisco and ran by a
> major isp (who have been checking their machines for errors but
> couldnt find anything).

I have no tried to change the switchport to a port a machine that the
backup worked from was connect to.

Unfortunatly this did not resolve my issue, it still remains.

SMB locking? Wouldnt shadow copy resolve this?

Anyone have any other idea? I really need to get this working and Im not
sure if I can call microsoft support (would they charge me tons of $?).

Thanks

/daniel heimburg

Bill Grant wrote:
> The only other thing I can think of is SMB locking. If some other
> program gains exclusive access and locks the file, your SMB connection can
> time out before the lock is removed. This usually produces a meesage such as
> "network name is no longer available".
>
> Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>
>>Todd J Heron [MVP] wrote:
>>
>>>Answered in microsoft.public.windows.server.general. Here it is
>>>again: Sounds like you could have a faulty switchport on the router or a
>>>resource problem at the problem machine itself. What OS is the
>>>problem machine running? Is it fully patched and drivers
>>>up-to-date? Also note that some routers are not enterprise class
>>>and will tend to deteriorate after a while in performance unless
>>>they are rebooted. And sometimes they peak in performance at a
>>>level beneath acceptable norms.
>>
>>This is windows server 2003 100% patched, I've tried everything now
>>except changing the switchport.. the routers are cisco and ran by a
>>major isp (who have been checking their machines for errors but
>>couldnt find anything).
>
>
>

I don't think it would matter what you were using to do the backup.
Backup programs rarely put an exclusive lock on the file they are copying.
An oplock from another program on the file could cause the backup program's
SMB connection to time out. The other symptoms certainly indicate that the
backup program doesn't have exclusive access and doesn't run at a high
priority.

Daniel Heimburg wrote:
> I have no tried to change the switchport to a port a machine that the
> backup worked from was connect to.
>
> Unfortunatly this did not resolve my issue, it still remains.
>
> SMB locking? Wouldnt shadow copy resolve this?
>
> Anyone have any other idea? I really need to get this working and Im
> not sure if I can call microsoft support (would they charge me tons
> of $?).
> Thanks
>
> /daniel heimburg
>
> Bill Grant wrote:
>> The only other thing I can think of is SMB locking. If some other
>> program gains exclusive access and locks the file, your SMB
>> connection can time out before the lock is removed. This usually
>> produces a meesage such as "network name is no longer available".
>>
>> Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>>
>>> Todd J Heron [MVP] wrote:
>>>
>>>> Answered in microsoft.public.windows.server.general. Here it is
>>>> again: Sounds like you could have a faulty switchport on the
>>>> router or a resource problem at the problem machine itself. What
>>>> OS is the problem machine running? Is it fully patched and drivers
>>>> up-to-date? Also note that some routers are not enterprise class
>>>> and will tend to deteriorate after a while in performance unless
>>>> they are rebooted. And sometimes they peak in performance at a
>>>> level beneath acceptable norms.
>>>
>>> This is windows server 2003 100% patched, I've tried everything now
>>> except changing the switchport.. the routers are cisco and ran by a
>>> major isp (who have been checking their machines for errors but
>>> couldnt find anything).

How can I give ntbackup exclusive access?
The backup works fine on the machine next to this one with the same
software/settings (as far as I know). Windows Server 2003 using NTBackup.

Should I call microsoft for this?

/daniel heimburg

Bill Grant wrote:
> I don't think it would matter what you were using to do the backup.
> Backup programs rarely put an exclusive lock on the file they are copying.
> An oplock from another program on the file could cause the backup program's
> SMB connection to time out. The other symptoms certainly indicate that the
> backup program doesn't have exclusive access and doesn't run at a high
> priority.
>
> Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>
>>I have no tried to change the switchport to a port a machine that the
>>backup worked from was connect to.
>>
>>Unfortunatly this did not resolve my issue, it still remains.
>>
>>SMB locking? Wouldnt shadow copy resolve this?
>>
>>Anyone have any other idea? I really need to get this working and Im
>>not sure if I can call microsoft support (would they charge me tons
>>of $?).
>>Thanks
>>
>>/daniel heimburg
>>
>>Bill Grant wrote:
>>
>>> The only other thing I can think of is SMB locking. If some other
>>>program gains exclusive access and locks the file, your SMB
>>>connection can time out before the lock is removed. This usually
>>>produces a meesage such as "network name is no longer available".
>>>
>>>Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Todd J Heron [MVP] wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Answered in microsoft.public.windows.server.general. Here it is
>>>>>again: Sounds like you could have a faulty switchport on the
>>>>>router or a resource problem at the problem machine itself. What
>>>>>OS is the problem machine running? Is it fully patched and drivers
>>>>>up-to-date? Also note that some routers are not enterprise class
>>>>>and will tend to deteriorate after a while in performance unless
>>>>>they are rebooted. And sometimes they peak in performance at a
>>>>>level beneath acceptable norms.
>>>>
>>>>This is windows server 2003 100% patched, I've tried everything now
>>>>except changing the switchport.. the routers are cisco and ran by a
>>>>major isp (who have been checking their machines for errors but
>>>>couldnt find anything).
>
>
>

Also I would like to add that the machine that has problem with the
backup across the router works fine when backing up to a machine in the
same switch, its just when crossing the router it fails.

/daniel heimburg

Daniel Heimburg wrote:
> How can I give ntbackup exclusive access?
> The backup works fine on the machine next to this one with the same
> software/settings (as far as I know). Windows Server 2003 using NTBackup.
>
> Should I call microsoft for this?
>
> /daniel heimburg
>
> Bill Grant wrote:
>
>> I don't think it would matter what you were using to do the
>> backup. Backup programs rarely put an exclusive lock on the file they
>> are copying. An oplock from another program on the file could cause
>> the backup program's SMB connection to time out. The other symptoms
>> certainly indicate that the backup program doesn't have exclusive
>> access and doesn't run at a high priority.
>>
>> Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>>
>>> I have no tried to change the switchport to a port a machine that the
>>> backup worked from was connect to.
>>>
>>> Unfortunatly this did not resolve my issue, it still remains.
>>>
>>> SMB locking? Wouldnt shadow copy resolve this?
>>>
>>> Anyone have any other idea? I really need to get this working and Im
>>> not sure if I can call microsoft support (would they charge me tons
>>> of $?).
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> /daniel heimburg
>>>
>>> Bill Grant wrote:
>>>
>>>> The only other thing I can think of is SMB locking. If some other
>>>> program gains exclusive access and locks the file, your SMB
>>>> connection can time out before the lock is removed. This usually
>>>> produces a meesage such as "network name is no longer available".
>>>>
>>>> Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Todd J Heron [MVP] wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Answered in microsoft.public.windows.server.general. Here it is
>>>>>> again: Sounds like you could have a faulty switchport on the
>>>>>> router or a resource problem at the problem machine itself. What
>>>>>> OS is the problem machine running? Is it fully patched and drivers
>>>>>> up-to-date? Also note that some routers are not enterprise class
>>>>>> and will tend to deteriorate after a while in performance unless
>>>>>> they are rebooted. And sometimes they peak in performance at a
>>>>>> level beneath acceptable norms.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> This is windows server 2003 100% patched, I've tried everything now
>>>>> except changing the switchport.. the routers are cisco and ran by a
>>>>> major isp (who have been checking their machines for errors but
>>>>> couldnt find anything).
>>
>>
>>
>>

It is sounding more and more like a hardware problem, as Todd suggested.

Daniel Heimburg wrote:
> Also I would like to add that the machine that has problem with the
> backup across the router works fine when backing up to a machine in
> the same switch, its just when crossing the router it fails.
>
> /daniel heimburg
>
> Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>> How can I give ntbackup exclusive access?
>> The backup works fine on the machine next to this one with the same
>> software/settings (as far as I know). Windows Server 2003 using
>> NTBackup. Should I call microsoft for this?
>>
>> /daniel heimburg
>>
>> Bill Grant wrote:
>>
>>> I don't think it would matter what you were using to do the
>>> backup. Backup programs rarely put an exclusive lock on the file
>>> they are copying. An oplock from another program on the file could
>>> cause the backup program's SMB connection to time out. The other
>>> symptoms certainly indicate that the backup program doesn't have
>>> exclusive access and doesn't run at a high priority.
>>>
>>> Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have no tried to change the switchport to a port a machine that
>>>> the backup worked from was connect to.
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunatly this did not resolve my issue, it still remains.
>>>>
>>>> SMB locking? Wouldnt shadow copy resolve this?
>>>>
>>>> Anyone have any other idea? I really need to get this working and
>>>> Im not sure if I can call microsoft support (would they charge me
>>>> tons of $?).
>>>> Thanks
>>>>
>>>> /daniel heimburg
>>>>
>>>> Bill Grant wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The only other thing I can think of is SMB locking. If some
>>>>> other program gains exclusive access and locks the file, your SMB
>>>>> connection can time out before the lock is removed. This usually
>>>>> produces a meesage such as "network name is no longer available".
>>>>>
>>>>> Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Todd J Heron [MVP] wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Answered in microsoft.public.windows.server.general. Here it
>>>>>>> is again: Sounds like you could have a faulty switchport on the
>>>>>>> router or a resource problem at the problem machine itself. What OS
>>>>>>> is the problem machine running? Is it fully patched
>>>>>>> and drivers up-to-date? Also note that some routers are not
>>>>>>> enterprise class and will tend to deteriorate after a while in
>>>>>>> performance unless they are rebooted. And sometimes they peak
>>>>>>> in performance at a level beneath acceptable norms.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This is windows server 2003 100% patched, I've tried everything
>>>>>> now except changing the switchport.. the routers are cisco and
>>>>>> ran by a major isp (who have been checking their machines for
>>>>>> errors but couldnt find anything).

I have changed the NIC's and the switchport works fine since I tested it
with another server.

Any other suggestions?

Could this be a bug in Windows and where do I report such things?

/daniel heimburg

Bill Grant wrote:
> It is sounding more and more like a hardware problem, as Todd suggested.
>
> Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>
>>Also I would like to add that the machine that has problem with the
>>backup across the router works fine when backing up to a machine in
>>the same switch, its just when crossing the router it fails.
>>
>>/daniel heimburg
>>
>>Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>>
>>>How can I give ntbackup exclusive access?
>>>The backup works fine on the machine next to this one with the same
>>>software/settings (as far as I know). Windows Server 2003 using
>>>NTBackup. Should I call microsoft for this?
>>>
>>>/daniel heimburg
>>>
>>>Bill Grant wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> I don't think it would matter what you were using to do the
>>>>backup. Backup programs rarely put an exclusive lock on the file
>>>>they are copying. An oplock from another program on the file could
>>>>cause the backup program's SMB connection to time out. The other
>>>>symptoms certainly indicate that the backup program doesn't have
>>>>exclusive access and doesn't run at a high priority.
>>>>
>>>>Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>I have no tried to change the switchport to a port a machine that
>>>>>the backup worked from was connect to.
>>>>>
>>>>>Unfortunatly this did not resolve my issue, it still remains.
>>>>>
>>>>>SMB locking? Wouldnt shadow copy resolve this?
>>>>>
>>>>>Anyone have any other idea? I really need to get this working and
>>>>>Im not sure if I can call microsoft support (would they charge me
>>>>>tons of $?).
>>>>>Thanks
>>>>>
>>>>>/daniel heimburg
>>>>>
>>>>>Bill Grant wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> The only other thing I can think of is SMB locking. If some
>>>>>>other program gains exclusive access and locks the file, your SMB
>>>>>>connection can time out before the lock is removed. This usually
>>>>>>produces a meesage such as "network name is no longer available".
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Daniel Heimburg wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Todd J Heron [MVP] wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Answered in microsoft.public.windows.server.general. Here it
>>>>>>>>is again: Sounds like you could have a faulty switchport on the
>>>>>>>>router or a resource problem at the problem machine itself. What OS
>>>>>>>>is the problem machine running? Is it fully patched
>>>>>>>>and drivers up-to-date? Also note that some routers are not
>>>>>>>>enterprise class and will tend to deteriorate after a while in
>>>>>>>>performance unless they are rebooted. And sometimes they peak
>>>>>>>>in performance at a level beneath acceptable norms.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>This is windows server 2003 100% patched, I've tried everything
>>>>>>>now except changing the switchport.. the routers are cisco and
>>>>>>>ran by a major isp (who have been checking their machines for
>>>>>>>errors but couldnt find anything).
>
>
>