We recently noticed an unexpectedly rapid increase in database space
usage on one of our TSM servers. This seems to be the result of two
Windows clients that are consistently backing up hundreds of thousands
of files every night. We checked our other two TSM servers and found
two more Windows clients behaving this way.

In all four cases the behavior started during the same backup window:
late October 9 and early October 10.

All four systems are in the same Windows domain. The domain administrator
does not recall any noteworthy updates on October 9.

One of the Windows administrators involved looked at dsmsched.log and
reported that the backups include large numbers of files that have not
been updated or even accessed recently.

The four Windows clients have, among them, three Windows levels (XP,
2003, and 2008), two TSM client levels (5.3 and 6.2), and three groups
of people responsible for system administration.

The three TSM servers involved include one 5.5 server and two 6.2
servers. All run under zSeries Linux.

I would appreciate any suggestions regarding possible causes for this
behavior.

Thomas Denier
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital