Question : Backup Exec 2010 on VMWare server backing up iSCSI targets - looking to improve throughput

I am soliciting opinions for improving the throughput on the backups (Backup Exec) of VMWare guests that use iSCSI targets on a ReadyNAS 2100.

The specs are:

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ReadyNAS 2100 - iSCSI targets

<Target 1> - General file sharing data
<Target 2> - SQL data

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VMHost1 - Proliant DL380G6, Local SAS drives, 32GB RAM
VMHost2 - ProLiant ML350, Local SAS & SATA drives 4GB RAM (More on order)

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VM Guest Server1 - Runs on VMHost1
SBS DC, Exchange and file sharing
SBS 2008 64 bit premium
Exchange data on physically local drive
AV Management server (Kaspersky)
iSCSI<Target 1> mounted for other data storage

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VM Guest Server2 - Runs on VMHost1
Custom apps requiring SQL Service
Server 2008 standard 64bit
iSCSI<Target 2> mounted for data storage

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VM Guest Server3 - Runs on VMHost2
Backup server, Symantec BE 2010
Server 2008 32bit
No iSCSI mounted

Backup jobs target all resources on all three guest servers. iSCSI targets backup up as drive letters on remote servers.

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Using this configuration the average throughout was approximately 350Mb\Min. I bellieve that this could be considerably higher.

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I am ready to test the following modification to the setup which is:

VM Guest Server3 - Runs on VMHost2 (Backup server)

1)      Mount iSCSI <Target 1>
2)      Mount iSCSI <Target 2>
3)      Modify backups NOT to address iSCSI mountings on remote servers VM Guest Server1 & VM Guest Server2
4)      Modify backups to add drives letters added in #2 & #3 above as backup targets virtually local to the backup server

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I am asking for any other suggestions on potentially modifying the setup to increase throughput.

Thanks.

Answer : Backup Exec 2010 on VMWare server backing up iSCSI targets - looking to improve throughput

VMware natively reads/writes 1024KB at a time.  Does this match the I/O size of both NTFS and the iSCSI?  (No way does it match).  If they are not equal, then you are making the various subsystems read / write more than they really have to.