HP StorageWorks XP Fast Recovery Solution administration guide: Windows Server 2003 (B9552-96004, September 2005)

Troubleshooting 83
HP VSS HWP copies intermittently fail or time out
If FRS sometimes works to create recovery copies and other times it does
not, the problem may be due to the time restriction on snapshots. VSS
allows only 30 seconds for the entire snapshot process, including only 10
seconds for actually making the copy. This narrow time window can cause
any limitation in your system to hamper successful snapshots. The
following issues may affect FRS/VSS performance:
• Firewall or LAN traffic slowing or preventing communication.
Reconfigure the firewall or LAN to increase throughput.
• Viruses slowing server operation. Check for and clean off viruses.
• Production or recovery server or Command View station is too slow.
Use a faster CPU with plenty of memory.
• Inadequate privileges. Administrator privileges are required in all
applications and on all hardware used with HP VSS HWP.
• Writer application not configured according to best practices. Consult
the software manufacturer for recommended practices. For example,
keeping database files small by creating more rather than larger files
may speed up overall operation and database copying. Saving
transaction logs to a different volume than the database may also
speed up performance.
• Use VSS trace to locate errors in the snapshot process. See the
Microsoft website and Windows help for information about the log
and trace files.