Slow ethernet speeds

  • Hi,


    My nas is up and running however it is running at stupidly slow speeds, around 10 megabytes read and write when using a 10 gigabyte file (not multiple smaller files although I have the same problem when I try and transfer lots of small files).


    The nas has a 1 gigabit ethernet connection as does my computer which should mean I get around 100+ megabytes of speed.


    For the purpose of the test I am using RAID 0 (software through openmediavault) The drives when plugged into my computer get around 60-70 megabytes read and write which should give me over a 100 megabyte read and write when in RAID 0 and over ethernet, however it does not.


    If you have any further questions about my nas please ask and as I am new to all of this please use simple and descriptive terms.


    Thank you

  • Hi, hope to be of help.


    Which hardware is connecting both devices, a router or switch? Which model exactly?

    NOW:
    Mac mini Late 2012 / macOS Catalina / Docker Desktop for Mac
    Intel Core i7-3615QM CPU @ 2.30GHz - 16GB RAM - 4 external disks via USB3.0 - Gigabit Ethernet - 20 docker containers via docker-compose ;)
    PREVIOUS:
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  • I am afraid we need a lot more information if you want to get help.
    What kind of hardware is the NAS running on?
    What kind of drives are we talking about?
    How are the drives connected to the NAS?
    How do you share the filesystem? Cifs or nfs?
    The next step is to test drive and network seperated. Do you know how to use the shell on the nas?
    iperf for network and iozone for drive benchmarks would be a good way to start.

  • The nas has a 1 gigabit ethernet connection as does my computer which should mean I get around 100+ megabytes of speed

    Not if there's something in between that is limited to Fast Ethernet (100 Mbits/sek). You need to look at the whole data path as already suggested and of course you need to include network cables as well (if they've just 2 cable pairs or are damaged then they're 'downgrading' the connection to Fast Ethernet already).

  • Exactly, knowing first what hardware is connecting both ends of the transfer, be it a router or switch, and cables is very important in this situation.


    Even though the Network Cards on the computers may be 1Gb, if the central piece is 100Mbps, it till run at 100Mbps anyways.


    Tell us more about what connects both ends of the transfer to help you sir. :)

    NOW:
    Mac mini Late 2012 / macOS Catalina / Docker Desktop for Mac
    Intel Core i7-3615QM CPU @ 2.30GHz - 16GB RAM - 4 external disks via USB3.0 - Gigabit Ethernet - 20 docker containers via docker-compose ;)
    PREVIOUS:
    omv 5.2.1-1 (Usul) - Bevy NUC thanks to TechnoDadLife (NUC5CPYB)
    Celeron N3050 @ 1.60GHz - 8GB RAM - 2 external disks via USB3.0 - Gigabit Ethernet - 21 docker containers via docker-compose :)

  • Hi, hope to be of help.


    Which hardware is connecting both devices, a router or switch? Which model exactly?

    A router is connecting both devices. It is connected through cat 6 cables (I upgraded all the cables and since my original post however capping but it is now a little higher at around 30 megabytes per second) My router is the plusnet hub 1 which I believe is based off the bt home hub 5 (which is capable of 1 gigabit speeds) however I have also tried the ASUS RT-AC66U which a friend loaned us and we still faced the same problem.

    Your NAS and PC have GbEthernet.


    What about your SBC (single-board computer)?


    In case you have a Raspberry Pi 3 here is a brief overview about it’s bottlenecks.

    For the NAS we are using an old computer rather than a single board computer. The computer (Dell Optiplex 780 small form factor) has a 1 Gigabit ethernet port attached so I do not believe we are being bottlenecked and for the computer we are using a 2017 imac 5k (which has a gigabit ethernet port built in) although we have tried other computers with little success.


    As I said earlier the pc is the Dell Optiplex 780 small form factor)
    CPU: Intel® Pentium® Processor E5500 @ 2.80 GHz
    Inbuilt graphics (no idea what)
    4 gigabytes of DDR3 RAM running at 1066 mhz
    The operating system is running off an 120GB SSD


    3x500 gb Seagate ST3500312CS (I know these are not meant for a nas and will most likely die however I am just testing the nas at the moment and trying to iron out any problems we may face such as this). The drives run at about 60-70 megabytes each when we tested them so in RAID 0 they should give us over 100 megabytes a second which is what I am looking for.


    The drives are connected via SATA II (which although not great is capable of around 300 megabytes so is fine for our needs)


    The filesystem is being shared through SMB/CIFS


    I ran an iperf test. I have attached the results at the bottom of the page.


    Not if there's something in between that is limited to Fast Ethernet (100 Mbits/sek). You need to look at the whole data path as already suggested and of course you need to include network cables as well (if they've just 2 cable pairs or are damaged then they're 'downgrading' the connection to Fast Ethernet already).

    I do not believe anything is limiting it to 100 mbits/sec as the the nas is connected directly by cat 6 to the router which is connected by cat 6 to my imac and like I said earlier I have bought all new cables and replaced them. I am only using short cables 2-3m so there is no chance of the signal being degraded.



    Hopefully I have answered all the questions and if you have any ideas please let me know. I have also reinstalled openmediavault since posting this in case I had done something wrong or something had bugged out.


  • The iperf test shows clearly that ethernet is the limiting factor. So now we know at what to look at.
    The results also show that its not fast ethernet but gbit, it clearly looks like something like a bad cable, bad isolation or something like that.

  • If you transmit tcp, maybe look at netstat - s, and see if there is a loss rate.
    Iperf is benchmarking the network connection, so its completly independent of the hdds.
    The pc you connect with, does it have a usb ethernet interface?
    Edit: did not the its an imac. So it clearly looks like something broken in your network.


    If you got a laptop, connect it directly to the nas and measure with iperf. Than go to the next part on the way to your mac until speeds drop.

  • The iperf test shows clearly that ethernet is the limiting factor. So now we know at what to look at.
    The results also show that its not fast ethernet but gbit, it clearly looks like something like a bad cable, bad isolation or something like that.

    I believed it was also a bad cable which is why I have replaced all my cables (only two) to cat 6 (I did this since I have posted as I said earlier it changed speeds from around 10 megabytes to about 30 megabytes) cat6 should be able to provide more then enough bandwidth if you want I can replace them again.



    If you transmit tcp, maybe look at netstat - s, and see if there is a loss rate.
    Iperf is benchmarking the network connection, so its completly independent of the hdds.
    The pc you connect with, does it have a usb ethernet interface?
    Edit: did not the its an imac. So it clearly looks like something broken in your network.


    If you got a laptop, connect it directly to the nas and measure with iperf. Than go to the next part on the way to your mac until speeds drop.

    Im very sorry however as i am new I have been following a guide to doing the iperf test I currently just enter


    iperf -c 192.168.1.78 -P 1 -i 10 -p 5001 -f M -t 60


    and it works so if you could send me the iperf command you want me to do then i can enter it.


    The pc (nas) im using has a built in gigabit ethernet (soldered to the motherboard not plugged in by usb) as I said before Im not too sure what you are asking but I think I have answered, and if you mean the pc Im using to connect to the nas then it has a gigabit ethernet port built in(not over usb)


    I have a laptop however I am not sure how I would connect it to the nas so if you could roughly explain or link me to a guide that would be great.

  • Yes that is correct I ran iperf going from c to b but via d also just to clear up I do not use an extra switch, I just use my router

  • Hi
    Have you tried to reboot all you LAN (router(s), server, PC) ?
    Sometimes I have the same problem and it fix it, specially the ISP router (SFR 4K box, firmware made with the feet like we said in france :whistling::thumbdown: ) and my small switch netgear, not expensive but do his job since 10 years, but sometimes it need 5 minutes of holidays.

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