EMC has created a new public RecoverPoint EMC Community Network web site as a place for RecoverPoint administrators and partners to access expert advice, and for sharing RecoverPoint knowledge and experiences.  Check it out here.

Sorry for the extremely long blog title, but this is an error that I have come across recently, and wanted to share the solution.

Freezing guest operating system
CreateSnapshot failed, vmRef “*”, timeout “1800000″, snName “VEEAM BACKUP TEMPORARY SNAPSHOT”, snDescription “Please do not delete this snapshot. It is being used by Veeam Backup.”, memory “False”, quiesce “False”
File <unspecified filename> is larger than the maximum size supported by datastore ‘<unspecified datastore>

The solution is actually to move the configuration files from from a datastore that has a lower block size (2MB or 4MB) to a datastore with a larger block size.  This is due to the fact that the expansion of the data during the backup process.

Winner of a numrous awards, Veeam is at it again with their new vPower. There are 5 things to keep in mind with how vPower how can help you:

1. Instant VM Recovery – allows you to minimize downtime by running a VM from a compressed/deduplicted backup file

2. Universal Application-Item Recovery (U-Air) - enables quick recovery of individual objects from any virtualized application

3. SureBackup Recovery Verification – Test backups to ensure you can recover quickly and easily

4. On-Demand Sandbox – test environment (read-only) that allows you to restor VMs in an isolated environment

5. Instant File-Level Recovery – allows you to eliminate multiple backups and use 1 fully tested image-based backup for any possible recovery situation

For more info, please check out Veeam’s site. They have some great videos that can get you up to speed quickly.

I recently ran into a problem with a client’s SQL 2005 Standard server where the Express Edition of SSMS (Management Studio) had been installed. The Express Edition had to be completely removed and the Standard version of SSMS was installed.

However, I kept seeing the following error when I tried to open my Maintenance Plans…

Method not found: ‘Void Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.DatabaseMaintenance.TaskUIUtils..ctor()’. (Microsoft.SqlServer.MaintenancePlanTasksUI)

The problem was that SSMS was at a different patch level after I re-installed it. I installed SP4, which was the patch level of the Database Engine, and everything worked!

Please note: The first time you open the Maintenance Plan after patching you will see the following error, which can be ignored…

Quick post that hopefully someone finds useful out in the field–

While working with the EMC VNXe, I had to get into SPs via the command line for some support stuff, but could not find ANYWHERE in any documentation what the username was to be able to do this. But then I reread what it was asking me for– the “service” account. So I tried the username “service” with the password I had previously set on the account, and sure enough, that was it.

Many of our customers use Iomega Network Attached Storage (NAS) units as backup-to-disk targets. We have a customer who uses an Iomega ix4-200d to store backups of their vSphere environment made using vRanger Pro.  The ix4-200d is a popular model because it contains four drives that can be configured to provide RAID 5 or RAID 10 protection, and is available in raw capacities of 4TB, 8TB and 12TB.

Our customer recently experienced a drive failure in a NAS unit that had been in production for more than a year. Fortunately, the drives were configured with RAID 5 and there was no data loss.

When opening a support case with Iomega we were told that the unit was no longer under warranty – which was surprising since it comes with a 36-month warranty and was only 17 months old. We learned that the unit had never been registered on Iomega’s web site, which is a requirement for activating warranty support. Fortunately the customer was able to locate the original invoice as proof of purchase and complete the online warranty registration.

Once warranty support was confirmed, we asked Iomega support to send a replacement for the failed drive. They first had us upload a dump file from the unit, and then instructed us to upgrade the firmware both in the unit itself and on the individual drives. The firmware upgrades restored the failed drive to working order and the drive was re-added to the RAID group, making a replacement drive unnecessary.

Some lessons learned from this experience:
– Make sure to register your NAS on Iomega’s web site. Warranty coverage is not available
– If you own an Iomega NAS unit, it would be a good idea to proactively upgrade the firmware. You might avoid drive failures of the type our customer experienced

Links to the firmware downloads and installation instructions for the Iomega ix4-200d can be found here and here.

Unfortunately in our customer’s case the drive failed again while being added back to the RAID group and will  need to be replaced.

Microsoft announced today that Service Pack 1 for Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 will be released by the end of June. Among the list of added features and improvements is the support for Chrome and IE9 for SharePoint.

That is just one of the improvements being added. Stay tuned for more info coming as TechEd Atlanta kicks off…

Announcing Service Pack 1 for Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010