>     From 20:53 until 3:49, we got nothing done. But MeasureWare shows that
>     dsmc cpu utilization was nearly 100% during that time. (There is other
>     work running on the machine, after all!)
>
>     This happens every night on this system.
>
>     Any ideas about what could be causing this aberrant behavior?

This kind of behavior during backup is typically a function of the structure and
content of the client file system.  Remember that the client first asks the
server for the details on all relevant files previously backed up, and then it 
is
up to the client to run through its file system comparing files against this 
list
so as to determine if the file needs to be backed up.  If the dsmc is getting
mired in doing this, it's worth checking the file system for links and mounts
which may cause redundant/wasteful path traversals.  If you know when this 
started
you can try to identify any system change which might contribute to this.
In any case it's worth looking over any client's file system structure from time
to time to identify irregularities which can throw off any function which is
walking the file system.             Richard Sims, Boston University OIT