I have an E4500 on which one of the partitions has a large number ( 900+ )
of sparse files (*.pag). The ls command shows many of them to be over 100Gb
with some over 300Gb, although according to the du command they are really
on the order of 100Mb in size.

The problem I have is that Netbackup ( version 3.2GA ) cannot back this
partition up in a timely fashion. When it starts on this partition, the
system will sit there for days with one of the 6 cpu's running at 100%
dedicated to to netbackup. It will backup a few files off the partition, and
then just start spinning it's wheels. I have netbackup configured to skip
locked files, and this seems to be working. But the .pag files are not
locked as far as I can see. The only thing special about this partition is
the large number of sparse files. I currently have backups disabled for this
partition.

The backups are being done to a local DLT Tape Library.

Is the problem due to the sparse files and, if so, how can I fix the problem
- besides just skipping .pag files ? 
- 
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Rick Ballard            Cell : 902-483-0559 
xwave                   Pager : 902-458-6568 
Halifax,Nova Scotia     Email : Richard.Ballard AT xwave DOT com 
Canada                  Timezone: Atlantic AST(GMT-4)/ADT(GMT-3)