Thanks Lynn, point taken , will do.

The following URL provides good information (including the script \command) for database backup copy_only option:

http://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/1075/copyonly-backups-with-sql-server-2005/

Hope this helps.

and for some reason if you do not get that information from default trace ( if default trace was not running) you can follow steps from the following URL to...

Performance troubleshooting using waittype stats from DMVs (as a first step) will be less intrusive and will not add overhead to the server.

you can take a look at the following...

This is a known issue, please take a look at the following URLs:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/psssql/archive/2009/03/03/troubleshooting-sql-server-2005-2008-performance-counter-collection-problems.aspx

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/john_daskalakis/archive/2009/05/07/9593110.aspx

The significant thing to consider is that Third party tools may use mutithreading ( they generally do) and add to the CPU overhead. Also Third party backup use compression which...

From the perspective of taking this discussion further it seems like other than a couple of DMVs the only way to rest DMV is to restart SQL Services which is...

At the cost of sounding repetitive I am listing the commands that you may execute for shrinking the log file:

Step 1 : Identify the name of the log file(s)...

If the recovery model for the database is full then you can also try running the following undocumented command to get a crude view of the transactions that may have...

yes

1) check SQL error log.

2) and also the text output file (associated with the maint plan) that may have been generated in the log folder that is located ...

Further can you try backing any database manually to the same storage location preferably logged in as LOBSTERVC1\sqlagtacct_vc ?

like say:

Backup database master to disk = 'drivename:\folder\master_manual_test.bak'

we...

we may require additional information.

1) Is there a entry in SQL Error log around the same time the backup job fails?

2) Are you backing up the databases on local drive...

Please check the SQL error log for more information. you should in all probability find some clues there.

and another important consideration would be if you plan to (or already) use the SORT_IN_TEMPDB option when rebuilding indexes. This is because using this option could result in significant (if...

Gail, Thanks for the update.

Really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and giving all of us a opportunity to learn from your vast experience.