Earlier today I attempted to create a backup set for a very large
file server. The process generating the backup set was running at
the same time as our daily inventory expiration process. As far as
I can tell, all went well until inventory expiration got to the system
for which the backup set was being created, at which point a remarkably
ugly deadlock condition occured. The backup set process, the inventory
expiration process, and a tape reclamation process all stopped making
headway, and client sessions were starting but not making any headway
after they connected. I ended up cancelling the backup set process.

Our server is at the 5.3.4.0 level and runs under mainframe Linux. The
client involved is a Windows 2003 system with  5.3.4.0 client code.

Is there a bug fix that will prevent the deadlock condition?

What would happen if we tried to run a 'generate backupset' process
that run through the normal backup window for the client involved?
Extrapolation from the part of the backup set that completed before
the deadlock suggests that the entire process would take 13 hours.
This would make it a mathematical impossibility to avoid overlap
with either the client backup window or the normal inventory
expiration window.