Sybase Backup Logs Test

The Sybase Backup Logs Test monitors the health and reliability of transaction log backups, which capture all database transactions since the last full or log backup. These backups are vital for ensuring database integrity, supporting disaster recovery, and enabling point-in-time recovery with minimal data loss. Without regular transaction log backups, logs may grow uncontrollably, causing disk space exhaustion and degraded performance. Backup operations can also fail due to issues such as critical errors, RPC/API failures, I/O bottlenecks, network data transfer problems, or tape/archive misconfigurations, leaving the database vulnerable to incomplete recovery. Monitoring these parameters helps administrators quickly detect and resolve such failures, ensuring backup processes run smoothly and storage resources are optimally used. By tracking log size and growth rate, it also enables proactive capacity planning and workload analysis. Ultimately, this test safeguards recoverability by ensuring that transaction log backups are consistent, current, and free of errors.

Target of the test : A Sybase ASE server on which the backup service is installed.

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every Sybase Database server being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	Refers to the IP address of the Sybase ASE server.
Port	The port number at which the Sybase server listens to.
File Path	This parameter specifies the full location and name of the log file that needs to be monitored. By default, this parameter is set to none,which means that no log file has been specified for monitoring. When configuring this parameter, you must provide the exact directory path and filename so that the system can correctly locate the log file. Example: C:\SAP\ASE-16_0\install\XYZ124_BS
Is UTF16	This parameter determines whether the log file being monitored is encoded in UTF-16 format. Set the ISUTF16 flag to Yes if the log file uses UTF-16 encoding. By default, this is set to No.
DD Frequency	Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD frequency.
Detailed Diagnosis	To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option. The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled: The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Critical errors	Indicates the number of critical errors encountered during transaction log backups.	Number	Critical errors are the severe failures in backup operations that can lead to incomplete or corrupt backups. A high value suggests severe problems in backup operations (e.g., corruption or incomplete backups). Administrators must immediately investigate and rectify these issues to ensure data recoverability. Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to find out the Start time, Error code, and Error message.
Open server event errors	Indicates errors related to Open Server events during the backup process.	Number	Open server event errors are the issues with event handling in the Open Server during backup. Frequent errors may signal misconfigured event handling or integration issues between the database and backup services. Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to find out the Start time, Error code, and Error message.
RPC API errors	Indicates the number of Remote Procedure Call (RPC) or API errors encountered during log backup operations.	Number	RPC/API failures can prevent communication between backup services and the database. Persistent errors may point to network or protocol configuration problems. Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to find out the Start time, Error code, and Error message.
IO service layer errors	Indicates errors related to the I/O service layer during transaction log backups.	Number	High error counts can result in incomplete or failed backups due to disk, file system, or I/O bottlenecks. Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to find out the Start time, Error code, and Error message.
Network data transfer errors	Indicates errors related to network data transfers during log backup operations.	Number	A high error rate suggests network instability, bandwidth issues, or misconfigured backup destinations. Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to find out the Start time, Error code, and Error message.
Archive volume manipulation errors	Indicates errors encountered while manipulating archive volumes for log backups.	Number	Archive volume manipulation errors are the failures in managing archive volumes used for backups. Errors here can disrupt storage management for backups, impacting long-term retention and retrieval.
Parse errors	Indicates the number of parse errors recorded during log backup operations.	Number	Parse errors may point to invalid log structures, misconfigured backup scripts, or incompatibility issues. Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to find out the Start time, Error code, and Error message.
Tape auto configuration errors	Indicates errors encountered while auto-configuring tape devices used for transaction log backups.	Number	Tape auto configuration errors are the misconfigurations or failures in tape device setup during backups. Persistent errors suggest tape drive or media misconfigurations, affecting automated archival backups. Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to find out the Start time, Error code, and Error message.
File size	Indicates the current size of the transaction log backup file.	MB	Large file sizes may reflect high transaction volumes. Sudden spikes can indicate unusual activity or missed log truncations.
Growth rate	Indicates the rate at which the transaction log backup file is growing.	MB/Sec	A high growth rate can lead to rapid disk space exhaustion. Monitoring this measure helps plan capacity and identify abnormal workload patterns.