Exchange 2010 SP1 14.1.218.15 We have two stores on the same drive. First store backsup w/o issue. At first we rebooted the server and cleared the failed retryable state of the MS Exchange Writer status before trying again. But we had the same issue. Any ideas. Not sure why it fails on Store 2 but not on Store1 = this is not part of a DAG and both stores are in the same fold on the same drive. Exchange is a single server solution. Then the second stores (same backup job) fails with the following errors: Event9840: General An attempt to prepare the database 'Store2' for backup failed because the database is already in the process of being backed up. The error code is -2403. (Note that if a backup was recently aborted, then it may take several minutes for the system to detect the aborted backup and initiate backup cleanup procedures, so this message may be generated if an attempt was made to backup a database before a previous backup attempt had fully terminated.) Evt 9814:Exchange VSS Exchange VSS Writer (instance 79157c51-3bdf-4105-ba3e-2e486d7f6df6:9) failed with error code -2403 when preparing the database engine for backup of database 'Store2'. Evt2007 ShadowCopy Information Store (3968) Shadow copy instance 9 aborted. Evt9609 Exchange VSS Exchange VSS Writer (instance 79157c51-3bdf-4105-ba3e-2e486d7f6df6:9) failed with error code -2403 when preparing for Snapshot. Evt8229 VSS A VSS writer has rejected an event with error 0x800423f3, The writer experienced a transient error. If the backup process is retried, the error may not reoccur. . Changes that the writer made to the writer components while handling the event will not be available to the requester. Check the event log for related events from the application hosting the VSS writer. Operation: PrepareForSnapshot Event Context: Execution Context: Writer Writer Class Id: {76fe1ac4-15f7-4bcd-987e-8e1acb462fb7} Writer Name: Microsoft Exchange Writer Writer Instance Name: Exchange Information Store Writer Instance ID: {e6ed9211-2469-4fde-8ecc-4f2ddad05ea7} Command Line: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\bin\store.exe" Process ID: 3968 Exchange VSS Writer (instance 79157c51-3bdf-4105-ba3e-2e486d7f6df6:9) has aborted the backup successfully. Exchange VSS Writer (instance 79157c51-3bdf-4105-ba3e-2e486d7f6df6:9) has processed the backup shutdown event successfully. </Event>

We have two stores on the same drive. First store backsup w/o issue. Not sure why it fails on Store 2 but not on Store1 = this is not part of a DAG and both stores are in the same fold on the same drive. Exchange is a single server solution. Hi SJMP, Which backup software do you use? If you use WSB, please note Backups taken with Windows Server Backup occur at volume level. Thus two stores(database) are backuped together. Instead of troubleshooting the issue, I highly recommend you place stores on seperate drivers first(same for transaction log stream). Database and log file options Stand-alone: supported or best practice File placement: database per log isolation Best practice: Best practice: For recoverability, move database (.edb) file and logs from the same database to different volumes backed by different physical disks. For more information, please see: Using Windows Server Backup to Back Up and Restore Exchange Data http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd876851.aspx Understanding Storage Configuration http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee832792.aspx#Best Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com. Frank Wang TechNet Community Support

The datastores are on separate drives from the log files. There is no need to place the stores on separate drives from each other. Each is 50Gb. We are using BackupExec 2010 R3 - they said the issue is MS related to the vss writer. We were in a DAG environment so we backed up the stores via shadow copy via the DAG. After we removed the DAG we recreated new jobs using the new selection list. This is when the problem occurred. So no problems with writers until we tried to backup the stores directly via the DAG.

We were in a DAG environment so we backed up the stores via shadow copy via the DAG. After we removed the DAG we recreated new jobs using the new selection list. This is when the problem occurred. So no problems with writers until we tried to backup the stores directly via the DAG. "Exchange is a single server solution. " Hi SJMP, I'm confused about how many Exchange servers do you have now. If possible, please move the Store 2 to another driver. Did you also try to use WSB to backup the Exchange server? Frank Wang TechNet Community Support

Hi SJMP, Any updates?Frank Wang TechNet Community Support