SQL Server Books online defines BACKUPIO as “Occurs when a backup task is waiting for data, or is waiting for a buffer in which to store data. This type is not typical, except when a task is waiting for a tape mount.”

BACKUPIO is not specifically an disk IO wait measure. And should not be used in isolation as an IO performance measure. In the description below, the context is other SQL Perfmon counters or wait types are within an acceptable range.

A few issues to consider and approaches to minimizing BACKUPIO

1) BACKUPIO is not a IO performance measure

2) If backing up to disk – check % Disk Time on the destination drive. If persistently high talkto the Disk\SAN administrator for disk bottleneck issues

3) If backup to tape check backup infrastructure

4) If backup over network, network latency will manifest as BACKUPIO. Talk to network administrator

Republished from http://www.sqlserver-dba.com.