VMware plugin hangs during File Level Index (4036599)

VMWare plugin for NetVault - file level indexing - plugin hangs on backup when this option is enabled

VMWare plugin for NetVault - file level indexing - detailed overview

File level indexing on a CBT or image level backup is different to a file level backup. On the CBT or Image backup the Index is created with the block locations used in the file linked to the index. This makes it possible to restore single files from the data blocks backed up.

Creating an index of this type takes longer than a file level index as the file level index is mainly built during the backup. The time can be increased if the disk that was backed up has fragmentation and the greater the fragmentation the greater the increase in time for the index to be built. Another factor that can increase the time it takes to build an index is the number of VMDK files that represent the disk and the number of disks the VM has.
The last factor that will affect the indexing is if the backup is NDB it will take longer to create the index than a SAN backup.

To diagnose the issue pick a VM and check:

1. Backup mode nbd or san (SAN preferred)
2. Use disk defragmentation tool and analyze the disks on the VM
3. Number of files and directories
4. Number of disks on VM and volume layout - (i.e. do the volumes span disks and whether they are part of an LVM / LDM)
5. Number of VMDK files for each disk
6. Time taken for index build
7. I/O activity on the target datastores

For indexing, the remote VM disks are opened and the filesystem layout is read from there and passed to the plug-in. So having many jobs simultaneously doing indexing may have a performance impact on the remote datastore as well as on the resources of the local NVBU installation where the plug-in is running.