speed

Hmm, heaps of possibilities. First start running a local backup: does it run at the speed your hardware would suggest, and at a constant speed? If not, troubleshoot that first.

Second, check the cache-parameters of your remote server (whether it is GroupWise or just file/print). Maybe your server simply cannot supply files fast enough? Check in monitor.nlm, and look for "current disk requests" and "dirty cache buffers". They should be going up and down, and return to zero every so many seconds. If they don't, look on support.novell.com for "cache tuning". The overall performance of your server will benefit as well. Those documents show also a list of "preset" cache- and other parameters for a dedicated GroupWise server, by the way.

Third, check your ARCserve parameters. Groupwise may have some files in use, do you "retry immediately", 5 times, 5 seconds between every try? That means a 5x5=25 second delay for every file in use, and on a busy system that can be a lot. Maybe try the retries at the end of the job, only once? Or better: use a backup agent. No more worries about files in use, but you sacrifice a little speed (which you haven't got anyway, obviously). And maybe you can check support.ca.com, and look for document "10015" (Increasing Throughput and Performance of Backups), it is for AS6 and not 7, but the logic behind it is the same.

Jim

I don't use Arcserve, but found out that by unloading the Netshield prior to running the backup and then reloading when done, I have cut my backup time by 50%. (You can do pre- and post-operations in Backupexec)
As far as backing up the GroupWise, you probably aren't. If your users leave GroupWise open or use notify I doubt you are backing up anything that can be restored. You need DBcopy.exe and gwback32.exe to accurately backup your groupwise. I exclude those directories (gwdomain and gwmainpo) when backing up with Backupexec.
The final item you need to check is IRQs for conflicts, this can be tough but worth the effort. See NetWare TID 2950154 called 8259 Interrupts and NetWare for further discussion.