> Their question:  What is a "virtual device"?  Where is it stored?  Is is
on
> disk or memory?
>
> Sometimes the backups fail intermittently with this message...Failures
used
> to occur alot more until I upgraded all the TSM agents, but it is still
> happening intermittently.
>
> BackupVirtualDeviceSet::Initialize: EndConfiguration failure on backup
> device 'TDPSQL-00001130-0000'. Operating system error -2147024888(Not
enough
> storage is available to process this command.).

Matt,

As defined in the Microsoft documentation:

   "The virtual device is implemented by the client. It is used
   by SQL Server as a storage device, like any other device.
   During BACKUP, a data stream is written to the device.
   During RESTORE, the data stream is read from the device."

You can think of it similar to a "named pipe", but is
much more extensive and more "device-like."

TDP for SQL uses the SQL Server VDI (Virtual Device Interface)
for doing backups. The VDI interface provides the fastest
and most efficient interface to store and retrieve data
to/from the SQL Server.

Many times the error you are referring to occurs because there
are not enough resources to satisfy the request.
What are the TDP for SQL settings for?

   SQLBUFFERS
   SQLBUFFERSIZE

You can view these with the "TDPSQLC QUERY TDP" command.
If you are seeing resource issues, try lowering
the values used for these settings.
You can set SQLBUFFERS to 0 to allow the SQL
server to decide what value to use.

Thanks,

Del

----------------------------------------------------
Del Hoobler
Del Hoobler
IBM Corporation
hoobler AT us.ibm DOT com

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