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The Graveyard - Products No Longer Supported => D-Link Storage => DNS-323 => Topic started by: heartog on June 12, 2012, 01:36:34 PM

Title: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 12, 2012, 01:36:34 PM
hi, i have a question. i want to ask why will my nas be very slow when i am transferring to it? it will not be slow on another computer.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: JavaLawyer on June 12, 2012, 02:15:07 PM
What is your throughput uploading files from your PC to the DNS-323? How about download throughput? How is your PC connected to the DNS-323? Do other PCs on your network also exhibit similar throughput to/from the DNS-323?
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 15, 2012, 09:41:39 AM
i get around 4-10mb/s depending on the amount of disk space i have. when i download, i get around 13mb/s per second. i connect my nas to a network hub and on the same hub as my pc throught a gigabit connection.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: JavaLawyer on June 15, 2012, 10:12:49 AM
On a wired GB connection with a dedicated hub, I would expect significantly higher throughput. Did you test throughput on different PCs to rule out PC driver/NIC issues?
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 16, 2012, 01:33:25 PM
i think the reason why it is slow is because my hdd is 5900rpm. i also tried it on a different computer and it is still the same(the hard drive was new when i tried it so basiclly is empty) but i want to know why it will be very slow when i play files during a transfer.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: fordem on June 17, 2012, 07:58:27 AM
Slow is relative - a corvette is fast relative to a jeep - but slow relative to a maserati.

You've been given numbers by other users, how do your numbers compare?
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 17, 2012, 06:58:49 PM
the speed will depend on the amount of free disk space i have. most of the time i have 5m/s write and 11m/s read. now i have added in another drive but transferring from drive 1 to 2 is still so like like 5m/s
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: fordem on June 18, 2012, 05:34:38 AM
OK - so now we have numbers - but the units don't make sense - technically m/s is metres/second - a measure of speed, we need mb/s (megabits/second) or MB/s (megabytes/second).

Copying from drive1 to drive2 is going to be slow, because you're transferring data from the NAS, across the network to the PC and then back across the network to the NAS.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 18, 2012, 06:28:32 AM
ok, sorry. it is MB/s. and now i have a second drive, it is only 5MB/s  when i transfer from the computer to the new drive. the new drive is Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: JavaLawyer on June 18, 2012, 06:46:07 AM
I may be grasping here, but what speed is your hub rated for? (double check)
You may want to try directly tethering your NAS and PC to your router to rule out the hub as a possible bottleneck.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 18, 2012, 07:11:26 AM
it is a gigabit hub. i can transfer fast to my other hdd before.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: FurryNutz on June 18, 2012, 09:15:11 AM
This a Hub or switch? I presume a switch as there is a difference. Not sure if they even make HUBs anymore.  :-\
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: fordem on June 18, 2012, 10:20:19 AM
5MB/sec is quite low for gigabit - one of the common causes for low throughput in a gigabit network is poor cables, where did you get yours from?
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: FurryNutz on June 18, 2012, 10:29:30 AM
I recommend cat6 cables. In box cables can be bad and sometimes now built well. Deepsurplus or monoprice has good inexpensive.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: JavaLawyer on June 18, 2012, 11:30:47 AM
I recommend cat6 cables. In box cables can be bad and sometimes now built well. Deepsurplus or monoprice has good inexpensive.

Let's not forget the free bag of Skittles that comes with each order placed at DeepSurplus  ;)
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 18, 2012, 03:37:27 PM
it is actually a switch. the one connected to the nas is the in box cable. the one to my comouter is a cat6 from ncix.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: FurryNutz on June 18, 2012, 03:42:48 PM
I would make sure all cables are CAT6 and don't use the INBOX cables.

Guess someone keeps stealing Java's skittles  :P
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 19, 2012, 11:27:47 AM
i will try cat6 cables
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: JavaLawyer on June 19, 2012, 11:36:45 AM
i will try cat6 cables

If you order from DeepSurplus, save me some Skittles  ;)
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 19, 2012, 04:30:41 PM
but even if it is a 5e cable, it can still go over 5MB/s. i think it is another problem.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 19, 2012, 04:39:59 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/4DphW.jpg)

this is what i get when i transfer form harddrive 1 to harddrive 2
it will be the same even from pc to harddrive 2
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: ivan on June 20, 2012, 04:31:11 AM
Part of the slowness you are seeing here is because the data is doing the round trip from your NAS to your PC and maybe being written to the PC hard disk and then transferred from the PC back to the NAS.

Doing it that way the speed you are getting appears quite reasonable.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: JavaLawyer on June 20, 2012, 04:49:43 AM
I agree. For Volume_1 to Volume_2 transfers (i.e. with the PC as an intermediary in the copy) your throughput is within an acceptable range.  If you are uploading from your PC to the DNS-323, I would expect your throughput to top-out at around 7-12 MB/s, which will depend on the network hardware, cabling, and settings, etc. For downloads from your DNS-323 to your PC on a gigabit network, I would expect a maximum throughput in the low 30 MB/s range, again depending on network hardware, cabling, and settings.

There is a known issue with Windows XP (at least on the DNS-343), where throughput chronically drops to the 2-5.5 MB/s range. For some users, a reboot corrects the issue, for others, this speed is persistent even after reboot. I've experienced this issue myself until migrating to Windows 7.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 20, 2012, 09:23:35 AM
i tried disabling jumbo packets on my network adapter and on the 323, i will get around 7MB/s from pc to 323
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: JavaLawyer on June 20, 2012, 09:26:24 AM
i tried disabling jumbo packets on my network adapter and on the 323, i will get around 7MB/s from pc to 323

That's in the realm of what you should see for upload.  What is your download throughput from the DNS-323 to your PC HDD?
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 20, 2012, 03:18:31 PM
i get around 17-20MB/s
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: JavaLawyer on June 21, 2012, 05:07:57 AM
Your throughput values appear much improved since you started this thread. Pulling together what you're observing now it looks like you're achieving:



Searching this forum, I've found that these metrics are in line with what many users are observing as normal throughput values. Keep in mind that I own two DNS-343s, which are very similar to the DNS-323 (except for 2 extra bays), but may have some engineering differences impacting performance - so don't wholly rely on my performance metrics as something you should be seeing on your device. Good cabling and fiddling with the DNS-323 settings may improve performance a bit, but that's something you'll have to experiment with.

Keep in mind that relating the throughput of one network to another is an apples to oranges comparison without first understanding the variables that can impact performance: DNS model, HDD configuration, HDD model, DNS settings, network map, cabling, switch, client PC (NIC, network settings, OS, hardware), router brand/model, router settings, etc.

Reported performance from multiple users provides a good ballpark estimate of the universe of values your DNS-323 should fall within, but you have to closely scrutinize the higher end values to see if they are tenable for your particular network.

Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: fordem on June 21, 2012, 06:35:37 AM
A couple of points ...

but even if it is a 5e cable, it can still go over 5MB/s. i think it is another problem.

Whilst the cable type does affect the speed it does not determine it, so to assume you should get over 5MB/s because you're using a CAT 5e cable can be quite erroneous.

The different cable types determine the levels of noise & interference rejection, a CAT6 cable will reject noise & interference to a greater extent than a CAT5e, which will also reject noise & interference to a greater extent than a CAT5 cable.

The extent to which throughput is affected by the noise & interference levels varies with the "transmit rate", the higher the seed the greater the impact, so in a situation where a CAT5e cable was on a gigabit connection, especially if that cable was marginal or miswired or improperly terminated, it would no longer reject noise as it should, and you could well see ridiculously low throughput due to the retransmits that will occur, yet that very same cable would deliver excellent performance on 100 mbit.

i tried disabling jumbo packets on my network adapter and on the 323, i will get around 7MB/s from pc to 323

Use of jumbo packets needs to be considered on a case by case basis - if you're transferring small files, you'll see a drop in throughput, if you're transferring large files you MAY see an increase in throughput.

On a more personal note - I've had my DNS-323 since 2006 - in a real world environment where you have little control over file sizes, tweaking for maximum performance becomes an exercise in futility - it sits in a corner and acts as a "back up server & storage device", backup is run during the wee hours of the morning when the time taken is of little relevance.
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: heartog on June 21, 2012, 08:02:23 AM
thank you for helping
Title: Re: NAS slow while transferring files
Post by: JavaLawyer on June 21, 2012, 08:09:57 AM
Glad we could help.  If you try swapping out your nw cables, please post back with the results.