Possible Deadlock Condition

Hey guys,

I got a very serious issue at my office with our main server. The server that the entire company depends on. Now I hate to post these kinds of issues because I know it will be hard to explain and vague, especially when there are so many other intricacies not mentioned.

Basically, our main server has crashed 3 days in a row. The only evidence or proof of error is a message stating 'Possible Deadlock Condition'.

I've researched what a deadlock condition is, and its basically two processes trying to access the same resource.

My question is does a 'Possible Deadlock Condition' only reside with SQL or can it be with the OS too? And how can I go about find where the deadlock is taking place to alleviate the locks or conflicts.

I'm just completely lost right now, because this is getting into database world, and I'm not a DBA. I don't really expect to get a straight answer or resolution, but I would really like to discuss this issue and throw some ideas around. Maybe I can come across a serious DB guy on the forums or somebody that has seen this error message below.

Thanks in advance, because reading and trying to understand that probably was a task all in itself.

ZiPPy

Suggestions
1. Have you checked your Event logs to determine when the error occurs?
2. Do you know if it possibly coincides with the operation of your backup program?
3. What applications (DBMS, Mail Servers, Backup software) do you run on this server?
4. Have you run any disk scans to ensure the integrity of your file system?

1. Believe it or not, the event logs are clean minus some other junk that is not relevant. I only see when the server was rebooted. This I find odd, because an event logged would really help in the matter.

2. My team and I are leaning towards an issue with our backup. I've done some poking around on the Internet and found a few other people having a somewhat similiar issue. But at the same time the other details they provided made it lean more towards a Exchange issue. My Exchange server resides completely on another server.

3. We currently run SQL Server 2005, Exchange 2003, and Backup Exec

4. Yes, I have checked the integrity of the file system and all look good to go.

Thanks for your inquiries and attempt to help me solve this rather odd and challenging issue. I mean, when you have no events logged and a random error message its bound to get challenging.

Thanks again,

ZiPPy

I had a problem like this with a database file that I copied to a CD and back to a hard drive. The database was set to read only because I copied it to the CD.

This probably doesn't relate to your problem, but you could check file permissions and attributes.

I checked the permissions and all are at the correct state.

Did you receive the window stating a 'Possible Deadlock Condtion' or a 'Deadlock Condition' Because apparently those are two completely different error types regarding a deadlock.

Which database system were you using? I know Oracle had a huge issue a few years back with deadlocks and the database crashing. Many colleges and universities run Oracle for grades. But I know with SQL 2005 released and the upcoming SQL, Oracle will have a serious challenge.

I might want to consider find a dedicated database forum and seeing what I can find out. I got to find some DBA's

ZiPPy

Sorry, I do not remember the specific error, but I do know it was an Access Database...