Reduce CPU Usage

jduhonjduhon Posts: 2
edited July 16, 2007 11:02PM in SQL Backup Previous Versions
Hi,

I am running SQL Backup Lite v4 on SQL 2000 to backup a 20GB database on a P4 machine. I am also running a service on the same machine which stores information to the database constantly. Normally, the CPU load with this service running hovers between 25-35%.

However, when I run a full or differential backup, my CPU usage spikes up to 100% while the backup runs. This causes problems with the service running in the background.

Is there a way to reduce the amount of CPU cycles SQL Backup Lite is using? In other words, I am wondering if there is a setting that will throttle back the speed at which SQL Backup runs. Don't get me wrong, I use SQL Backup for the speed and space savings, but I am willing to sacrifice a little of either if I could keep the CPU usage below 80% for the duration of the backup.

For comparison, when I run a native full backup in SQL 2000, my CPU usage spikes at around 50%. But it takes almost twice as long, and I don't have the benefit of compression. :(

Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas on this subject? TIA

Comments

  • peteypetey Posts: 2,358 New member
    You can try using the THREADPRIORITY option to set SQL Backup process to run only when no other processes of a higher priority are running e.g.
    EXEC master..sqlbackup '-sql "BACKUP ... WITH THREADPRIORITY = 2" '
    
    See the help file topic 'The SQL Backup Toolkit\Toolkit Syntax\The BACKUP Command' for details of the other options.
    Peter Yeoh
    SQL Backup Consultant Developer
    Associate, Yohz Software
    Beyond compression - SQL Backup goodies under the hood, updated for version 8
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