How to troubleshoot - > HIT/ME Alert: Create Smart Copy - Failed on host XXX

Hello, 

 That's the error returned by Volume Shadow Service (VSS).   That long string is the ID of the volume assigned by MS I believe.  

 Best suggestion I have is open a support case with Dell, so they can look at the logs.  Are you running the latest EQL firmware and HIT kit software?  

 Regards, 

Don 

Hello, 

 Well VSS is at the heart of this.  ASM is requesting that VSS quiet the filesystem, allowing EQL to create a more consistent snapshot/replica.  So array is rather passive in this process. 

 Both array and VSS operate on the volume level primarily.  So I don't know of a way to drill down deeper to see what VM or VMs are causing the problem.  Possibly Microsoft can?  

 The Requester (in this case ASM), asks VSS to flush cache, pause I/O, and create a snapshot.  If you create a driver for VSS, known as a "Hardware Provider", it will create a hardware based snapshot instead of a hidden snapshot at the filesstem level.  So VSS, via the H/W provider talks directly to the array and says "select volume XXX create snapshot/replica now."   ASM doesn't send that command,  VSS does.  It returns the volume info back to the server in XML format.  

 Regards,

Don

Thanks, Don.

Of course, the next logical question is how do I go from the ID of the volume to VM?

I have opened several support cases and each time was a one-off.  There doesn't seem to be one answer except it's always a VSS problem.