Networker

[Networker] NetWorker terribly slow with large number of small files

2008-03-03 08:54:13
Subject: [Networker] NetWorker terribly slow with large number of small files
From: Francis Swasey <Frank.Swasey AT UVM DOT EDU>
To: NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 08:52:02 -0500
I am converting a Windows cluster that was being backed up with BackupExec to NetWorker (absorbing another departments backups into our central system).

The problem is that there is this one resource cluster that has a single disk with 1,627,737 files taking up 25GB. So, the average file size is 16.1KB. NetWorker is backing this up in six and a third hours at a rate that is barely 1.1 MB/second. The customer is complaining bitterly because his last recorded BackupExec full of this system (with 1,219,074 files and 23.36 GB) was completed in one and a half hours at a rate of 4.43 MB/second.

I know this comes up from time to time, but sadly, I seem to recall that the end of the conversation is typically that NetWorker is just slow with lots of small files. Are there tactics that others are using to speed things up? Anyone with BackupExec experience that can tell me if what the customer is telling me is reasonable?

--
Frank Swasey                    | http://www.uvm.edu/~fcs
Sr Systems Administrator        | Always remember: You are UNIQUE,
University of Vermont           |    just like everyone else.
  "I am not young enough to know everything." - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

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