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[dutch_in_seattle]

I just installed the DNS-321 with a WD Caviar Green 1 GB drive. Everything works fine, but copying files to and from the NAS seems very slow to me: about 4 to 5 MB/s. This means that copying large video files of several gigabytes takes a long, long time (hours easily). Are these normal copying speeds? If not, can I do anything to speed up the copying process? (The NAS is hooked up to a gigabit D-Link DIR-655 router.)

Thanks!
Ron

[gunrunnerjohn]

You should be able to do better than that.  I use a gigabit switch and 4k jumbo frames, and I get anywhere from 15-20 mbytes/sec copy speeds.  Some folks claim more, but I've never seen it be any better.  I'm using RAID-1, and I suspect maybe a plain non-RAID disk might be faster because there is no compute overhead to speak of.

[dutch_in_seattle]

...and I suspect maybe a plain non-RAID disk might be faster because there is no compute overhead to speak of.

I'm using a simple, one-disk, non-RAID configuration. Any suggestions on how I could improve the speed? Are there any router settings you're aware of that might do the trick?

Thanks
Ron

[gunrunnerjohn]

The router should be a non-issue, the LAN ports are a simple gigabit switch on that router.  I don't know if that switch supports jumbo frames for gigabit, but even non-jumbo frames should do a lot better than that.

I just copies a 696mbyte file to the DNS-321, the copy took a bit less than 40 seconds for a 17.4mbyte/sec rate.  Reading is a bit slower for me, don't know why.

[ECF]

Verify you are getting a GB link on all device withing the link between the DNS-321 and the PC. You may also want to set the IP address on the PC and DNS-321 static and test it directly connected. If it still does not seem faster they locking both of them to GB so it can only connect to GB and see then try jumbo frames.

[dutch_in_seattle]

Verify you are getting a GB link on all device withing the link between the DNS-321 and the PC. You may also want to set the IP address on the PC and DNS-321 static and test it directly connected. If it still does not seem faster they locking both of them to GB so it can only connect to GB and see then try jumbo frames.

I apologize for sounding dense, but how do I do all that?
(I'm running Windows XP Home.)

Ron

[dutch_in_seattle]

I apologize for sounding dense, but how do I do all that?

I found out. It's all on the LAN page in the DNS-321 configuration page.
I set speed to 1000 (instead of Auto), Static IP (instead of DHCP Client), and Jumbo Frame enabled (with MTU = 9000). After saving the settings, my copy speeds goes up from about 4/5 MB/s to about 6/7 MB/s. Is that about as much as I can hope for? It seems that other users on this forum report speeds of 15 to 17 MB/s.

Ron

[gunrunnerjohn]

You should be doing better than that.  I don't think the DNS-655 supports jumbo frames, so that could actually be slowing you down.  Try without jumbo frames.

[dutch_in_seattle]

You should be doing better than that.  I don't think the DNS-655 supports jumbo frames, so that could actually be slowing you down.  Try without jumbo frames.

I can't seem to make it beyond about 6 to 6.5 MB/s, with or without jumbo frames set in DNS-321. I also tried using different MTU settings with jumbo frames turned on, but that doesn't seem to make a difference.

Ron

[gunrunnerjohn]

It sure sounds like a link in the chain is running at 100mbit, no way you should be limited to that.  I just did a gigabyte transfer from my DNS-321 to this Win7 machine, and it came in at 15.4mbytes/sec.  I actually get write speeds in the 17mbyte/sec range, not sure why writes are faster than reads.  This is to a RAID-1 configuration, you may actually do better with no RAID configuration.

[dutch_in_seattle]

It sure sounds like a link in the chain is running at 100mbit, no way you should be limited to that.

Do you know of a way I can test this? I did set the speed in the DNS-321 configuration page to 1000 rather than Auto. Doesn't that suggest that the connection is at 1 GB, since I can make the connection? If I understand the tip on the configuration page correctly, I wouldn't be able to connect if there wasn't a 1 GB connection?

Just a thought, could it be that the NIC in my computer (or rather the built-in Ethernet connection on my motherboard) is the culprit? Could that be limited to 100 mbit? Could it help if I got a dedicated gigabit PCI NIC?

Update: I looked at my motherboard specs, and the Ethernet connection is 100 mbit max. I'll get a dedicated gigabit NIC and put that in my computer to see if that makes a difference.

Ron

[gunrunnerjohn]

You have identified the weak link.   That's exactly what I was talking about.  Obviously, all the pieces in the puzzle have to run at gigabit speeds for this to work.

I think that addition and enabling jumbo frames will probably make a big difference in your transfer speeds.

[dutch_in_seattle]

I installed a dedicated gigabit network card in my computer and the copy speed has definitely improved. I'm now getting about 14 to 15 MB/s. I still have to play around with the jumbo frame setting to see if that makes any difference. Looking at the DIR-655 forum, it doesn't seem clear whether that router supports jumbo frames, so it might not matter.

Thanks for everyone's help!
Ron

[gunrunnerjohn]

Put a gigabit switch in front of the router and connect all the devices to that switch.  This will eliminate the router from the picture.

[dutch_in_seattle]

Put a gigabit switch in front of the router and connect all the devices to that switch.  This will eliminate the router from the picture.

I'll do that. I'll connect my desktop and DNS-321 to the switch, which, in turn, is connected to the router. Would you connect my cable modem to the router or to the switch?

Ron