Application Server job failed for service instance

All of a sudden, my FAST search server started bogging me this error several times.


Application Server job failed for service instance Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Administration.SearchServiceInstance
Reason: An update conflict has occurred, and you must re-try this action


When I checked the ULS Logs it showed me the Trace below 

Application Server Administration job failed for service instance Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Administration.SearchServiceInstance (21e4447f-bac6-4a29-82db-165e074ac5db). Reason: An update conflict has occurred, and you must re-try this action. The object SearchDataAccessServiceInstance was updated by domain\user, in the OWSTIMER (5040) process, on machine (server name).  View the tracing log for more information about the conflict. Technical Support Details:  Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPUpdatedConcurrencyException: An update conflict has occurred, and you must re-try this action. The object SearchDataAccessServiceInstance was updated by domain\user, in the OWSTIMER (5040) process, on machine (server name).  View the tracing log for more information about the conflict.     at Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Administration.SearchServiceInstance.Synchronize()    at Microsoft.Office.Server.Administration.ApplicationServerJob.ProvisionLocalSharedServiceInstances(Boolean isAdministrationServiceJob)

Resetting the index and Recreating the SSA didn't work either !Luckily after a lot of troubleshooting and looking around I found a fix ! Thanks to this guy !

OK , So resolution 

Resolution:

The file system cache on all FE’s (in my case, this was just one server) on which the timer service is running needs to be cleared.

Below is the step by step provided by Microsoft in this KB Article for doing this:

1. Stop the Windows SharePoint Services Timer service (Found in Windows Services)
2. Navigate to the cache folder
   In Windows Server 2008, the configuration cache is in the following location:
   Drive:\ProgramData\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config
   In Windows Server 2003, the configuration cache is in the following location:
   Drive:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config
   Locate the folder that has the file "Cache.ini"
   (Note: The Application Data folder may be hidden. To view the hidden folder, change the folder options as required)
3. Back up the Cache.ini file.
4. Delete all the XML configuration files in the GUID folder. Do this so that you can verify that the GUID folder is replaced by new XML configuration files when the cache is rebuilt.
5. Note When you empty the configuration cache in the GUID folder, make sure that you do not delete the GUID folder and the Cache.ini file that is located in the GUID folder.
6. Double-click the Cache.ini file.
7. On the Edit menu, click Select All. On the Edit menu, click Delete. Type 1, and then click Save on the File menu. On the File menu, click Exit.
8. Start the Windows SharePoint Services Timer service
9. Note The file system cache is re-created after you perform this procedure. Make sure that you perform this procedure on all servers in the server farm.
10. Make sure that the Cache.ini file in the GUID folder now contains its previous value. For example, make sure that the value of the Cache.ini file is not 1.

I Hope this article was informative. Happy Sharepointing !

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