Backup fails with "Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service" error. (4047921)

Some Windows file system backup jobs, especially when backing up large files or network shares, might log the following warning when they try to read a file:

"Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service", and the file is consequently not backed up.

If the backup is to a VTL, the same problem can be logged as a media error like:
Error 2009/11/16 17:10:54 38 Media NV_SERVER NV_SERVER C:\\NewLibrary\drives\1: had media error
Error 2009/11/16 17:10:54 38 Media NV_SERVER Error transferring data to Mid 'NV_SERVER 16 Nov 14:32-1', marked read only
Error 2009/11/16 17:10:54 38 Jobs NV_SERVER Fatal error: Stream connection to device failed

The media error log message will have the following additional context messages:
FILESYS :05348 8 21 61054 Failed to write: Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service.
DISKFILE:05348 108 0 61054 Unexpected error writing to media
DEVDISK :05348 94 4 61054 Write Data failed to write 32768 bytes
MEDWRITE:05348 183 1 61054 Device write data out: FAILED

"Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service." is a message generated by the Windows Operating System indicating that the OS is running out of some system resources, and is consequently not able to satisfy our file system calls.

In at least one case, it helped to enabled the "VSS" option on the backup. By using VSS, Windows creates a snapshot of the volume that we then access for backup instead of reading off the volume directly. This seemed to prevent these errors.

Furthermore, no occurence of this issue is reported on Windows Server 2008, so it is likely that Microsoft has modified some parameters that improve this behaviour.

The following Microsoft knowledgebase articles address this issue and helped some end users:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/304101 and https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/312362

According to the KB articles, the registry changes can be dangerous and might not necessarily help, so if you have further questions on this, it is best to speak to Microsoft.

If the server is using VSS, then the following rollup package may also be required:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/940349

One other thing that can be checked is the switch /PAE (physical address extension) and /3GB in windows boot.ini. In conjunction that does not seem to work and produces the error. After removing the /3GB switch and doing a restart the problem should be resolved.

BakBone SFDC Solution Number: 00001536