You cannot back up databases to a network drive if your account have not sufficient permissions to access the network drive

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This article was previously published under Q207187

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to back up a database to a network drive, you may receive one of the following error messages, depending on the version of SQL Server you are running.

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On SQL Server version 7.0, 2000, and 2005

Server: Msg 3201, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 Cannot open backup device 'E:\pubs.dat'. Device error or device off-line. See the SQL Server error log for more details. Server: Msg 3013, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 Backup or restore operation terminating abnormally.

The following information will be in the error log:

998-12-29 11:58:21.62 kernel BackupDiskFile::CreateMedia: Backup device 'E:\pubs.dat' failed to create. Operating system error = 5(Access is denied.).

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On SQL Server version 6.5

[SQL Server] Can't open dump device '<dump device path>'. Device error or device off line. Please consult the SQLServer errorlog for more details.

Messages similar to the following appear in the error log:

97/11/25 11:25:49.54 kernel dbsvolopen: Backup device '\\svrname\data\pubs.DAT' failed to open, operating system error = 5 (Access is denied.)
97/11/25 11:25:51.60 kernel dbswritecheck: Backup device '\\svrname\data\pubs.DAT' failed to open, operating system error = 5 (Access is denied.)

The following message may also appear in the error log:

Msg 18204: dbswritecheck: Backup device '<device path and file>' failed to open, operating system error = 5 (Access is denied.)

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CAUSE

This error message usually occurs as a result of incorrect permissions to the network drive.

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WORKAROUND

To enable backups to network drives, perform the following steps:

The SQL Server service must be started using a domain user account to access any resources on a remote computer. Verify that the MSSQLServer service is started under a domain account that has write access to both the Windows NT Server share and its underlying partition (if the partition is formatted with the Windows NT file system, or NTFS).
In Control Panel, double-click the Services icon.
Select the MSSQLServer service and then click Startup.
Examine the startup options for the service and verify that This Account is selected and that a valid domain account is supplied in the form Domain_Name\Domain_account (with the correct password).

NOTE: If you changed the service to run under a domain account, you must stop and restart the MSSQLServer service.
Verify that the account specified has write access on the Windows NT share to which you are backing up, as well as the underlying partition (if the partition is formatted as NTFS). To do this, perform the following steps:
1. Right-click the share name in Windows NT Explorer.
2. Click Sharing on the shortcut menu.
3. On the Security tab, click Permissions.