Wednesday, September 29, 2010

DPM 2007 - Large SQL 2000 Inconsistent replicas

We had a customer that had 3 large SQL Databases approx 30 - 40 gb each and could not get their DPM 2007 Protection group fully synced.The databases were on a Windows Server 2003 Enterprise edition server with Service Pack2.

This is the error we were getting

DPM encountered an error while performing an operation for <\\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy1372\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\Data\....mdb> (id 2033: insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service (0x800705aa))

So the insufficient system resources is the part I focused on and through some research on the web these are the steps I took to resolve the issue.

1. Changed the Virtual Ram on DPM Server from system managed to a custom size. The size I chose was double the physical amount of ram.

2. Installed hot fix from Article ID: 940349 This hot fix updates the vss writers on the windows 2003 server.

3. The apply method one from this Microsoft Article ID: 304101

4. Reboot the protected Server in this case the Windows 2003 Enterprise server and reboot the Dpm server. When both are backup. Start a consistency check and that's it.

Of the steps I have described above, I am not sure if all steps are required but I am sure it resolved the problem we were having.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Adding 32bit XP Drivers to 2008R2 Print Server

This should be really easy and straight forward and it actually is if you do it the way I have described here. I was working on an install today and could not remember how to do it as I have not had to deploy printers to xp for a long time. If you search around the web you will see many posts asking "How to deploy 32bit xp drivers from a 2008r2 Server"

There is all sorts of articles out there like using startup scripts and pushprinterconnections.exe

From a Windows XP client:

Logon to a 32 bit XP client with an account that has Administrator rights on the server.
Browse to the server and double click on the Printers and Faxes share. Then Click File and then Server Properties.
Go to the Drivers tab. Click Add. The Add Printer Driver wizard should appear. Click Next on the welcome screen.
If the client already has a driver for the printer you can select the driver from the list otherwise you would Click Have Disk and browse to the directory containing the print drivers from the printer manufacturer. Once you select the printer you will be prompted to select the print environment. Check the box for Intel Windows 2000 or XP.
Click to Finish to complete the process and close the wizard.

Takes a few seconds instead of doing it the hard way! Sean

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Drobo

I recently installed a Drobo pro to a customer's site. The install was so simple and I was able to click "quick connect" within Microsoft ISCSI initiator.

I think the DROBO pro or elite are excellent pieces of hardware. They are not practical for file servers but perfect for non critical data or even DPM backups.

One of the most common problems I face , Is DPM Servers running out of space. And each HP 1TB Sata Server disk is very expensive. So rather than spend big on a server spend it on a drobo , We could virtualise DPM and via ISCSI present a Drobo volume to DPM which can then be used for Dpm Backups.

When Drobo support SATA III , The gap will begin to close between SATA and SAS which could make it a very interesting product.

You can buy a Drobo pro with 16TB of storage for approx €2k!!!