Help with Transaction Logs Backups Failing

  • Background.

    I have a two node cluster with 5 active SQL 2205 instances on both nodes. We use a third party backup compression tool called Hyperbac. We backup each database to a file and then append each log file backup to it. We have a backup file for each database. We are backing up to a network share that is on a SAN that is snapshot and replicated to our DR area.

    Lately we changed a lot of the log backup jobs to backup every hour and we stop the job 1 hour before the full backup and start it 1 hour after. All the SQL instances backup jobs are staggered. So one instance the log backups occure :15 after the hour and another :20 after the hour and so on.

    Since we changed it so more jobs are running, on occasion I get an error the the file cannot be accessed.

    Message

    BackupDiskFile::CreateMedia: Backup device '\\sqlbkup_prod\sqlbkup_prod\VSQLENTERPRISE\RkeCo_WSS_PublicSafety.zip' failed to create. Operating system error 5(Access is denied.).

    Needless to say the jobs will be running fine all day and then 5-6 backups will fail at different times of the night. last night some failed at 10:15 on one instance. I reviewed all the logs of all the instances and there were no other jobs running at 10:15 so I don't think resources was an issue.

    Are there any way to confirm if it was a network issue or a SAN issue? or does any one have any hints what to do next. Is my only option to back it up locally then copy it to to the share.

    Any help would be appreciated.

  • Verify when the snapshot is occurring and double-check to make sure there are no other processes running at the same time.

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    “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”

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    Managing Transaction Logs

  • Sounds like an external process if you have looked at SQL Server. If you do a full backup could your SAN replication be locking the file as it copies gigs over your network to DR? Are you jobs failing just after the full backup?

  • This may not be the case in your situation, but I've seen this error happen many times when the O/S level backup software was running and backing up the database disk backup files to tape.

  • We use HyperBac where I work. The differences I see are the following:

    1) All our backups are to individual files. Each full, differential, and transaction log is written to its own file.

    2) Our backups are run to local drives (they are on a SAN, however) then moved to on file server that is offsite. From there it is copied back to a DR system where it is also backed up to tape.

    You may want to look into changes like this.

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