Windows BackUp takes over 30 hours..why?

seajaygee · 07-08-2008, 01:43 AM

Hi all,

I'm running Windows 2003 SBS at my work with about 280GB of files on a 300GB hard disk.

Part of my job is to take a full back up of the system each night, except, a back up of the d: only (system files on c:) takes over 30 hours to complete.

Thus, I set the back up to run at 6pm on Monday night, go home, come back in the next day and watch backup continue throughout, go home, come in the next day and it is just about finishing.

Does anyone have any ideas on why?

It backs-up to a different 500GB hard disk each time which I rotate. The hard disk seems to run at USB 2.0 (which it is). I even trialled using Symantec BackUp but experienced the same times. The server doesn't seem to run slowly doing anything else?

Help me Tech Support Forum users, your my only hope!

Krrose27 · 07-08-2008, 04:26 AM

Are both the interna; an externa; harddrives high write speeds?

Also what are the stats on the externa; drives?

It may be them.... not enough cache, slow drives.....etc.

**djaburg** · 07-08-2008, 03:47 PM

It could be antivirus software that's running a scan at the same time the backup is running, which would slow things down quite a bit. I've also had some nasty slow performance when using some generic external housings (versus brand name like adaptec) via USB.

seajaygee · 07-09-2008, 01:48 AM

hi, sorry i wasn't able to reply yesterday but we're busy with other problems too.

anyway, i've checked the read and write speeds of my internal & external hd's which are as follow:
internal drive - read: 7, max 10.4MB / write: 0, max: 796KB
external drive - read: 0, max: 12KB / write: 4MB, max: 8.5MB

i'm not sure about cache. the machine specs are up to 2MB L2. i can confirm that we have 2GB of RAM though.

djaburg, that's a could theory about the antivirus software. we have etrust installed (which i don't recommend for user issues), but i've not heard that it slows things down. its impossible getting etrust installed so would be reluctant to uninstall it for a test, so, is there another way i could test this?

thanks for all your help.

**djaburg** · 07-09-2008, 10:06 PM

Perhaps the backup is verifying the files it writes and with the extremely slow read speed that you're showing there for your external drive, you might be slowing to a crawl.

07-08-2008, 01:43 AM	#1 (permalink)
seajaygee Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 5 OS: Windows 2003 SBS	Windows BackUp takes over 30 hours..why? Hi all, I'm running Windows 2003 SBS at my work with about 280GB of files on a 300GB hard disk. Part of my job is to take a full back up of the system each night, except, a back up of the d: only (system files on c:) takes over 30 hours to complete. Thus, I set the back up to run at 6pm on Monday night, go home, come back in the next day and watch backup continue throughout, go home, come in the next day and it is just about finishing. Does anyone have any ideas on why? It backs-up to a different 500GB hard disk each time which I rotate. The hard disk seems to run at USB 2.0 (which it is). I even trialled using Symantec BackUp but experienced the same times. The server doesn't seem to run slowly doing anything else? Help me Tech Support Forum users, your my only hope!

07-08-2008, 04:26 AM	#2 (permalink)
Krrose27 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 38 OS: Serv 03 R2 SP2, Mac Os X 10.5.4, XP Pro SP2, XP Home SP2, Ubuntu	Re: Windows BackUp takes over 30 hours..why? Are both the interna; an externa; harddrives high write speeds? Also what are the stats on the externa; drives? It may be them.... not enough cache, slow drives.....etc.

07-08-2008, 03:47 PM	#3 (permalink)
djaburg TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1,321 OS: XP SP3/Vista/7 Server 2K/2K3/2K8	Re: Windows BackUp takes over 30 hours..why? It could be antivirus software that's running a scan at the same time the backup is running, which would slow things down quite a bit. I've also had some nasty slow performance when using some generic external housings (versus brand name like adaptec) via USB. __________________ Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done. The inherent vice of capitalism is the uneven division of blessings, while the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal division of misery.

07-09-2008, 01:48 AM	#4 (permalink)
seajaygee Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 5 OS: Windows 2003 SBS	Re: Windows BackUp takes over 30 hours..why? hi, sorry i wasn't able to reply yesterday but we're busy with other problems too. anyway, i've checked the read and write speeds of my internal & external hd's which are as follow: internal drive - read: 7, max 10.4MB / write: 0, max: 796KB external drive - read: 0, max: 12KB / write: 4MB, max: 8.5MB i'm not sure about cache. the machine specs are up to 2MB L2. i can confirm that we have 2GB of RAM though. djaburg, that's a could theory about the antivirus software. we have etrust installed (which i don't recommend for user issues), but i've not heard that it slows things down. its impossible getting etrust installed so would be reluctant to uninstall it for a test, so, is there another way i could test this? thanks for all your help.

07-09-2008, 10:06 PM	#5 (permalink)
djaburg TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1,321 OS: XP SP3/Vista/7 Server 2K/2K3/2K8	Re: Windows BackUp takes over 30 hours..why? Perhaps the backup is verifying the files it writes and with the extremely slow read speed that you're showing there for your external drive, you might be slowing to a crawl. __________________ Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done. The inherent vice of capitalism is the uneven division of blessings, while the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal division of misery.