Tech Tip:
Third Party Considerations with D³

This article applies to D³ running on Windows platforms only.

Depending on your view, either D³ has problems with certain third party applications or some third party applications have a problem interacting with D³. In either case, there will be certain steps that you, as a D³ Administrator, should consider when running D³ on Windows.

The problems that we have seen range from data corruption to not being able to access data or restore from a pseudo floppy. The applications that we have seen along with the resolutions are listed below:

Problem: Any antivirus software can cause damage to data in our D³ FSI or D³ database.

Cause: We have seen numerous cases where antivirus products detect a binary sequence in a D³ file and interpret it as a virus. The antivirus software then FIXES the virus. D³ data is stored in binary files and the chance exists that a hex sequence will match a virus signature. When the antivirus software fixes the supposed virus, data corruption occurs. We have also seen cases where backup software that checks for viruses as the files are being backed up will FIX the file and then send it to the backup media. If the file has been changed in any way, data corruption occurs if the file was a D³ binary file. Trying to restore the file results in an unusable save.

It is recommended that all Windows systems use some type of antivirus software. Be sure to exclude our D³ database directory from any type of antivirus search. Viruses are written for Windows applications. Our D³ Programs directory contains executables and dynamic link libraries that could be affected by a virus written for Windows and should be included on a virus search using your antivirus software. On the other hand, our D³ database directory or FSI would not be subject to a virus and should be excluded from any antivirus search for viruses. We also recommend that you do not use backup software that fixes viruses before backing up the data, such as Veritas Backup software.

Resolution: Configure your antivirus software to search everything except your D³ database directory. Pseudo and Disk0 files do not seem to be affected by antivirus searches.

Antivirus software is manufactured by several third party vendors independent of Raining Data; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products when used on our D³ database directory.

Cause: Veritas Backup software has built-in antivirus software that scans the data as it is being backed up. For further details, please refer to aforementioned, "Cause" for damage done by antivirus software.

Resolution: Disable the antivirus software searches on our D³ database directory when backing up D³.

Veritas Backup software is manufactured by Veritas, a vendor independent of Raining Data; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of their products when used on our D³ database directory.

Problem: ArcServe Backup software has an option to back up open files but will not back up open files in D³ successfully, as it will in Windows.

Cause: If the VME is running, the FSI or D³ database has been opened. The FSI is the first part of D³ to start when starting the VME. If you attach to a hard disk pseudo device to do your D³ file save, make sure that your file-save program detaches from the pseudo device before backing up the pseudo floppy file.

Resolution: Do not attempt to back up any D³ files with ArcServe if they are open. In order to ensure that all D³ files are closed, you will have to shut down the VME. Set the VME to manual in Services and reboot Windows before using ArcServe to back up open files. Please refer to file-save considerations later in this document for further details.

ArcServe Backup software is manufactured by ArcServe, a vendor independent of Raining Data; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of their products when used to back up our D³ database directory.

Problem: Linksys network adapter cards have caused problems when used in any network environment where the computer is used to connect to the D³ Windows Server. These problems range from a loss of connectivity with your terminal emulator to bringing down the VME, and at times rebooting Windows. We have also seen an instance of a high throughput Broadcom Net Extreme gigabit card installed on D³ Windows that caused the VME to reboot several times in one day.

Cause: We strongly recommend that Linksys network adapter cards never be introduced to a live network environment that includes a D³ system. (These cards also go under the name of Network Everywhere.)

Resolution: If you are currently using these cards in your network, promptly remove them or you will experience undesirable results.

Linksys and Network Everywhere network interface cards are manufactured by Linksys, a vendor independent of Raining Data; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products with D³.

Please note: Linksys card problems are also documented in our D³ Readmefirst.txt that ships with our D³ 7.2.1 product under Known Issues, Number 7.

Problem: Third party ghosting utilities will not properly register D³ on the destination machine.

Cause: Limitation of ghosting software thus far.

Resolution: Do not use any type of ghosting utilities for D³. You must reinstall D³ on the destination machine.

Ghosting utilities are manufactured by several different vendors independent of Raining Data; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products with D³.

Problem: Additional proprietary services running on Compaq, Dell, and HP proprietary machines. Note: Clone machines do not have these services.

Cause: These proprietary vendors ship their computers with their proprietary services set to run automatically in the Windows Services icon. These Utilities start with the vendor’s name: Compaq, Dell, and HP respectively. These services monitor various aspects of the Servers network, memory, hard disks, etc. for performance. For example, some of the Compaq Agents: Compaq Foundation Agents, Compaq NIC Agents, Compaq Remote Monitor Service, Compaq Server Agents, Compaq Storage Agents, Compaq System Shutdown Service, and Compaq Web Agent consume resources and interfere with D³ and report erroneous D3fsiPrf.dll, NE3842, and Error 8 errors in the Event Viewer.

Resolution: To maximize performance and minimize potential problems with compatibility and resources, we recommend stopping all unnecessary Services running in Windows. D³ should be installed on a dedicated Windows Server whenever possible.

Proprietary Services are manufactured by several different vendors independent of Raining Data; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products with D³.

Problem: Printers designated as ‘Windows only printers’. D³ is not able to print to these types of printers. The D³ print job goes into the Windows spooler and will not print.

Cause: These printers do not have the necessary ‘mini drivers’. An example of some of these printers are Hewlett Packard’s HP 710c, 720c, 722c, DeskJet 820c and the Canon Bubblejet to name a few.

Resolution: Information on the HP website (www.hp.com) states that these printers do not perform from DOS or 16 bit applications in Windows NT. Therefore, they will not work with D³. For now, we must make sure that the printers we use are able to print from DOS. However, ‘Windows only’ printers are gaining in popularity due to their low cost.

Please note: Action item #23583 has been issued in response to this issue. A later release of D³ will include this enhancement.

Windows only printers are manufactured by several different vendors independent of Raining Data; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products with D³.

Problem: Mapping shared local printers to central share causes server to crash; generates Event ID 2020 from SRV (Q286060) on Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server. When you have several shared local printers that are attached to Microsoft Windows 98-based clients on your network, and you map the shared local printers to a central share on a server running Microsoft Windows 2000, the server may crash and log the following Event ID 2020 error from source SRV: "The server was unable to allocate from the system paged pool because the pool was empty."

Cause: This behavior can occur when the print job sent to the central print shares are not properly redirected to the shared printers connected to the client computers. This can result in a memory leak in MsvC on the server, which eventually causes the server to crash.

Resolution: Delete the print shares on the server and print directly to shared printers, or configure a network printer and print server.

We hope you find this information useful, and thank you for your interest and continued use of our products. If we can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Raining Data Customer Support at techinfo@rainingdata.com or fax us at (949) 261–5308.