Database at 100%

lzr

My customer now has a database size at 100%. Last time I checked it was around 40%. Size is now 65/65 Gb. If I export table information to Excel and summarize Size (Kb) I get 23 Gb.

Anyone have any ideas where the 40 Gigs can be? I have restarted database server but no change. Backup from Hotcopy is also 65/65 Gb

Environment:

Windows Server 2008
Navision 4.0 SP3 (database = 4.0)
Native database

Would really appreciate your thoughts.

danlindstrom

Mainly keys for sorting and SumIndexes
Maybe also a incomplete restore from a backup

lzr

Thanks for your answer Dan.

I was thinking of making a backup and then restore it in a new database to see if size differs. Do you have any other idea on how to investigate this?

The database has grown from 40% to 100% in about 2-3 weeks and nothing special has happened. The only thing I can think of is that they tried to make backups without having permissions (they only had super in their own company). They got the error "the table Table information can not be read". Perhaps something got stored in database which wasn't removed?

If I look at keys for a specific table the "used (Kb)" sum of these keys equals the table size

lzr

I deleted some companies, shrinking the database to 94%. Then I made a backup and restarted the database server. Database down to 36%...

Must have been some problems with incomplete backups not being deleted after their users getting error messages.

danlindstrom

taking backup should not make the database to grow but restoring do need space during restoring.
see posting 2-4 in the topic http://mibuso.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=25524

Maybe 'the Mibuso team' (Waldo, ara3n, etc) or someone else has another clue

David_Singleton

lzr wrote:

My customer now has a database size at 100%. Last time I checked it was around 40%. Size is now 65/65 Gb. If I export table information to Excel and summarize Size (Kb) I get 23 Gb.

Anyone have any ideas where the 40 Gigs can be? I have restarted database server but no change. Backup from Hotcopy is also 65/65 Gb

Environment:

Windows Server 2008
Navision 4.0 SP3 (database = 4.0)
Native database

Would really appreciate your thoughts.

You left out the important information:

Native or SQL.

firstly check what Dan suggested about a partial backup/restore, it is the most likely suspect. Just go Tools Restore, and see if you get a message about an incomplete restore.

if you are on Native, then it could be a bug. There has been a recurring bug in NAV that pops up in some versions. where the database locks at 100%. This is generally due to bad packets over the network, but the only way to fix it is by doing a NAV technical upgrade to a newer exe.

themave

lzr wrote:

I deleted some companies, shrinking the database to 94%. Then I made a backup and restarted the database server. Database down to 36%...

Must have been some problems with incomplete backups not being deleted after their users getting error messages.

You have answered your own question, you said you deleted some companies, that is the only logically way the database could have grown so fast, is someone created some new companies within the database. a failed backup would not affect the database size. Just my opionion.

David_Singleton

themave wrote:

... a failed backup would not affect the database size. Just my opionion.

i don't think anyone mentioned a failed backup, what was mentioned was a failed restore, whcih typically would DOUBLE the size of the database, and definitely explain this scenario.

themave

David Singleton wrote:

themave wrote:

... a failed backup would not affect the database size. Just my opionion.

i don't think anyone mentioned a failed backup, what was mentioned was a failed restore, whcih typically would DOUBLE the size of the database, and definitely explain this scenario.

I was just going by the post I quoted "Must have been some problems with incomplete backups not being deleted after their users getting error messages." I guess he ment incomplete restores

David_Singleton

themave wrote:

I was just going by the post I quoted "Must have been some problems with incomplete backups not being deleted after their users getting error messages." I guess he ment incomplete restores

Yes the post is a bit incomplete, and the OP is not really too forth coming with information. So I agree, we can only guess.

lzr

Thank you all very much for your help.

As I described it is indeed native database and my guess was that the problem was failed backups. There were no unsuccessful restores (I did try restore and the usual "Do you want to continue restore" were simply not there). I agree that this would be the most logical reason.

Either it is as David said that 4.0 SP3 have the packet error bug or that incomplete backups stores information in database.

Why I think it was failed backups:
In 4.0 SP3 users with super access to a single company can no longer make backup of their own company. They get the error "table Table information" cannot be read. This were never a problem in 4.0 which they used to run. I know users have been trying to do a lot of backups like this just the last week, other that this nothing special has happened.
Also when I made a successful backup the database dropped 40 Gig.

David_Singleton

lzr wrote:

...Either it is as David said that 4.0 SP3 have the packet error bug or that incomplete backups stores information in database.

Why I think it was failed backups:
In 4.0 SP3 users with super access to a single company can no longer make backup of their own company. They get the error "table Table information" cannot be read. This were never a problem in 4.0 which they used to run. I know users have been trying to do a lot of backups like this just the last week, other that this nothing special has happened.
Also when I made a successful backup the database dropped 40 Gig.

I tend to agree with you on that. The packet error bug is only on a handful of specific versions, though I did hear once of it happening on 4.00xx I never got confirmation, nor the exact version/sp/hotfix.

Also its rare, but I have seen cases where a restore failed, and then did not give the "Do you want to continue to restore.." message. To test if this is the issue, then go into object designer and look for the tables in the 100,000,000 range (I can't remember the number off hand, but you know what I mean, the tables like 100,000,027 which would be the partially restored Item Table.) You might also need to go through form designer to see them, as they can be hidden in rare cases.

If the tables are there, then your ONLY fix is to create a full backup and restore to a brand new database, but I think you already know this. if this is not the issue, then I would be looking at network errors, which are the most likely cause of a corrupt database. Also look at applying the latest hotfixes.

lzr

I have downloaded the latest update for 4.0 SP3 and will install it shortly. Unfortunately I cannot investigate if the restore process took up that data since the problem is solved.
Anyway it was very strange problem and I have never experienced it before.

Thanks for all your answers, I believe this matter could be set to solved now.