Possible Volume Shadow Copy issue on Windows 2003 File Server

Hi there

We are suffering occasional file access problems in a 130 user environment.

About once every few weeks our main file and print server hangs and users are unable to save files on their network drives. The server also houses the user pst files as well as their own personal and team drives.

When the problem starts, users experience Outlook hanging, it turns white and almost freezes the PC - or if trying to launch Outlook they will get "Unable to access pst , please contact sys Admin". Some users get "Write Delay" errors. They can continue to work but get get a continuous hourglass when trying to access files. The same is true of network resource browsing though My Computer for example.

However, we are perfectly able as sysadmins to log in via RDC and monitor the system using perfmon. We can also happily map drives whilst the problem is occurring.

Looking at the Event Logs, we notice this happens at exactly the same moment that shadow copy is scheduled to go off. we also notice no significant errors or problems in either system or application logs. The issue lasts for around 5-10 minutes, after which time everyone can then re-access their files/emails without any difficulty.

The strange thing is that this does not happen every day - only once every few weeks. So the intermittent behaviour makes it tricky to troubleshoot. This year it has happened on Jan 3rd, 15th, 16th and Feb 20th.

Any advice appreciated.

System:
Dell Poweredge 2800 with Windows 2003 SP1
2x 3Ghz Processors