Process Monitor - Error Primer

BUFFER OVERFLOW, BUFFER TO SMALL - Application is asking how much data there is

FAST IO DISALLOWED - Internal indicator that optimized I/O path is not available

END OF FILE - Application tried to access beyond the end of a file

NOT FOUND, PATH NOT FOUND, NAME NOT FOUND - Common in DLL PATH seraches , queries for optional functionality or settings

REPARSE - Symbolic link traversal - Virtualization

ACCESS DENIED - Often the source of problems

LUA Buglight 2.0

http://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_margosis/archive/2008/11/06/lua-buglight-2-0-second-preview.aspx

LUA Buglight is a utility that helps identify "LUA bugs" in applications -- application features that that fail as standard user but that work as administrator. I work on it in my spare time, so progress has been slow. Attached to this blog post is the second preview version of LUA Buglight 2.0.

Main changes since the previous preview:

Single executable: all the helper DLLs, EXEs, etc., are self-extracted to your temp folder when you run the program. No need to copy lots of files around.
For Vista: the helper program that requires elevation is now signed, so you get the nicer elevation prompt. The driver file for Vista is signed as well, so startup is much faster.
Explicit check for x86 -- sorry, the current version cannot be used on 64-bit versions of Windows.
Various bug fixes.
Some of the improvements of LUA Buglight 2.0 over 1.0:

Much better Vista support
Streamlined UI and improved flow
Identifies more bugs
On XP, not restricted to using a local admin account to create the "this-user-as-admin" context
On Vista, prompts for elevation just one time per session instead of for each test
Log file names autogenerated with timestamp in the name to avoid accidental overwrite of previous logs.
User options saved to the registry.

Alua - Asymmetric Logical unit access

- industry standard protocol that enables the communication of storage paths and path characteristics between an initiator port and a target port.

If your storage array is ALUA compliant (as NetApp arrays are) then you’re in luck because the vSphere NMP is, by default, ALUA aware.

To enable Aula the igroups must be changed on each controller in the cluster

igroup set "igroupname" alua yes

Install ESX host utilities from netapp and run
config_mpath -s -m -a netappcontroller:root:password -a netappcontroller:root:password

This will enable round robin.

Round robin will allow for proper load balancing mult pathing

esxcli nmp device list on each ESX host to ensure RR and Aula are working
http://now.netapp.com/NOW/knowledge/docs/ontap/rel732_vs/html/ontap/bsag/GUID-EB9DBAE9-1E88-4421-9D02-FD820589515D.html

Sophos and Netapp

So for the past few weeks I have had a case open with Netapp about any time a disk is formatted with windows it reaches 100% then the entire OS becomes unstable. .. This happens on both a physical box and a virtual box.

After a week of testing looking for issues I decide to create a new virtual while they look at logs. One by one I install 3rd party applications and end up on Sophos Antivirus. It seems a part of Sophos call "Data Control" when enable causes this issue to happen. When disable formating the lun works correctly.. So Data Control may need to be disabled in Sophos to properly format a disk till either netapp or sophos gets back to me if the issue is even related to them.. .

Uninstalled Backup Exec 12.5 -

So after years of issues with Symantec Backup Exec I decided to uninstall it and use another sbs and found it in Backup Assist great for a small shop.

Well my first test was with ntbackup to ensure at least at the windows level backup were still working. To my shocking amazement a "Required Media Missing Error" returned. There is no free media available with the selected type. Add unused media or click Cancel to end the operation. Little searching around on microsoft.com produced this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/267574

Using Method 2 corrected the issue

rsm view /tlibrary

LIBRARY
Off-line Media
MATSHITA UJDA780 DVD/CDRW
IBM ULTRIUM-TD3 SCSI Sequential Device

start /wait rsm.exe refresh /lf"IBM ULTRIUM-TD3 SCSI Sequential Device"

After running this command the volume copy service isn't functioning correctly so a reboot of the server should correct it.