You receive error messages when you try to back up a SQL Server 2000 database to a tape drive after you format and use the tape drive for backups in Windows Server 2003 (905616)

SYMPTOMS

Consider the following scenario. You format a tape drive in Microsoft Windows Server 2003. You use this tape drive to back up Windows Server 2003 by using the Ntbackup.exe program. Then you try to back up a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database to the same tape drive. In this scenario, you may receive an error message that is similar to the following in SQL Server 2000:

Server: Msg 3203, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Read on '\\.\TAPE0' failed, status = 1106. See the SQL Server error log for more details.

Server: Msg 3242, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
The file on device '%ls' is not a valid Microsoft Tape Format backup set.

Server: Msg 3013, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
BACKUP DATABASE is terminating abnormally.

Additionally, an error message that is similar to the following is written to the SQL Server 2000 error log:

DateTime spid51 BackupMedium::ReportIoError: read failure on backup device '\\.\TAPE0'. Operating system error 1106(error not found).
DateTime spid51 Internal I/O request 0x19C9DC58: Op: Read, pBuffer: 0x03A10000, Size: 65536, Position: 2162688, UMS: Internal: 0xC0000173, InternalHigh: 0x10000, Offset: 0x210000, OffsetHigh: 0x0, m_buf: 0x03A10000, m_len: 65536, m_actualBytes: 65536, m_errcode: 1106, BackupFile: \\.\TAPE0
DateTime backup BACKUP failed to complete the command backup database pubs to TAPE = '\\.\TAPE0' WITH NOUNLOAD

If SQL Server 2000 cannot resolve the operating system error 1106, type the following command at a command prompt:

net helpmsg 1106

You receive the following error message at the command prompt:

When accessing a new tape of a multivolume partition, the current block size is incorrect.

CAUSE

In Windows Server 2003, Windows backup supports a block size that is bigger than 64 KB to format a tape. The block size depends on the particular tape drive that you use.

SQL Server 2000 supports block sizes up to 64 KB. If Windows backup formatted a tape by using a bigger block size than 64 KB, you receive the error messages that are mentioned in the "Symptoms" section. Because Windows Server 2003 was released after SQL Server 2000, the "Backup Formats" topic in SQL Server 2000 Books Online does not mention this information.

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, use one of the following methods:

Format the tape by using SQL Server 2000

Use SQL Server 2000 to format any tape that you want to share between SQL Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003. To do this, follow these steps:

Insert a new tape in your tape drive.
In SQL Query Analyzer, back up a database by running the following command:
BACKUP DATABASE DatabaseName TO TAPE = TapeDriveName WITH FORMAT, BLOCKSIZE=65536, NOUNLOAD
Notes
- This command formats the tape with a block size of 64 KB. Therefore, the tape can be used by SQL Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003.
- DatabaseName represents the database name. TapeDriveName represents the tape drive.

First back up the database to disk by using SQL Server 2000

If you have sufficient disk space, follow these steps:

Use SQL Server 2000 to back up a database to a local disk.
Use Windows backup in Windows Server 2003 to back up the SQL Server backup file.

Use a third-party backup solution

Most third-party backup solutions use the Virtual Device Interface (VDI) in SQL Server 2000 to transfer a database from SQL Server to a tape. Typically, these solutions format the tape. Therefore, you may not experience this problem with these solutions.