File copy issues

[Credo]

I'm currently running FreeNAS-9.2.1.2-RELEASE-x64 (002022c). And I'm having an issue with file-copy.

when I move anything from a windows machine over a 1Gb network, the transfer starts at about 120MB/sec, but gradually drops to about 10, or 12 MB/sec when ultimately I get a connection error:

"There is a problem accessing \\192.168.1.6\

Make sure you are connected to the network and try again"


The file size is about 2Gb - I can't get it to complete. This is becoming quite frustrating. Memory usage seems fine, checking the reports, I don't seem to be lacking. Right now it's got 24Gb ram.


Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Credo]

Here's My iperf test:
------------------------------------------------------------
Client connecting to 192.168.1.52, TCP port 5001
TCP window size: 32.5 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
[ 6] local 192.168.1.6 port 53183 connected with 192.168.1.52 port 5001
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 6] 0.0-10.0 sec 1.09 GBytes 938 Mbits/sec

 

[cyberjock]

If you have a disk with problems on your FreeNAS machine it could be holding up the pool while the hard drive attempts to recover. I'd do short and long SMART tests on all of the disks.

Have you tried to do a scrub of your pool lately?

Do other files that are 2GB+ in size copy over just fine?

 

[Credo]

I'm actually trying to copy files Larger than 2GB. 2, 3, and 8GB respectively. I ran a scrub last night hoping this might help the issue.

The storage pool is 4 x 2TB at almost exactly 1/2 full. I'll run some smart tests and post the results.

 

[cyberjock]

I'm actually trying to copy files Larger than 2GB. 2, 3, and 8GB respectively. I ran a scrub last night hoping this might help the issue.

The storage pool is 4 x 2TB at almost exactly 1/2 full. I'll run some smart tests and post the results.

Ok.. so I'll ask the question again...

Do other files that are 2GB+ in size copy over just fine? ;)

 

[Credo]

no - so far, nothing copies over. The connection times out before anything's moved.

 

[cyberjock]

Hmm.. what's the windows client?

Can you post your server hardware specs?

 

[Credo]

Server specs is a Dell T610:
* Dual quad-core Xeon E5520 @ 2.26Ghz
* 24Gb RAM
* Perc 6/i Raid Controller managing the 4 x 2TB Pool.

The Windows client is a Win 7 Professional 64 Bit with 4Gb Ram. All network adapters are Intel Gigabit chipsets - File copies between workstations works with little/no issue.

 

[cyberjock]

The Perc 6/i may be masking a failing disk.. does it support JBOD mode?

Can you post the output of camcontrol devlist?

 

[Credo]

Running out for an hour or so. When I get back, I'll also boot into the Perc controller during reboot and check if there are any issues. Generally, the tray light will go amber if the Perc controller sees an issue with a disk - Mind you I understand that's not always the case...

No, there's no JBOD option in the Perc itself, only raid types (Which I have set to RAID 5)...

I'll Post what you requested when I get back - thanks for your help.

 

[Credo]

So, I guess I don't need to run any of the SMART Scans. I was at a loss on smartctl error when attempting to scan the devices. After doing some research about this, I came across a post that James (a member of the FreeNAS Core team) mentioned about my particular Raid controller in another post I found:

According to one of the kernel devs, mfip is the mfi passthrough driver, which exposes the devices behind the RAID controller to the OS. This warning occurs when you try to run smartctl directly against the device, which isn't necessary since the RAID controller monitors SMART already and marks drives as Predictive Failure when they trip. Running smartctl on these disks should not be necessary and in fact could cause Bad Problems if exposed disks are modified.

I did reboot into the Perc itself and ran through some diagnostics and drive health, with nothing retured; everything's fine. So I'm still at a loss at trying to figure out why file transfers are so slow...

 

[cyberjock]

Well, if you are running in RAID mode you are already in deep trouble.. for a laundry list of reasons I really don't care to explain right now, running in RAID with ZFS is asking for nothing but problems. And more often than not, eventual loss of your pool. There's reasons why we tell people NOT to mix RAID with ZFS, and yet you've ignored those warnings.

James is incorrect with some of his assessment. It is better to have the disk be monitored by FreeNAS and let FreeNAS report the problem. You almost certainly don't have that luxury since you inappropriately chose to use RAID. Search the forums for other Perc threads... you'll likely see us make the same comments to every single one of them. You'll probably find a few people that have lost their pools too.

Just got through telling someone 2 days ago that RAID + ZFS = fail(and I used that exact "math" equation). Not the least bit surprising.. he's complaining about performance issues too.

/smh

Good luck!

 

[Credo]

Fair enough. I'll move the data - and rebuild with those changes.

Thanks anyways for your help.

 

[KingRichard1st]

There's reasons why we tell people NOT to mix RAID with ZFS, and yet you've ignored those warnings.
RAID + ZFS = fail

@Credo: I'm sorry to hijack but I made the ZFS/RAID mistake!

@Cyberjock: I basically did this as I didn't read half of the doc's! Me=Dumbass.
The good thing is that I can start over. I have 2x 2TB HD's and 2x 250GB HD's. What would you recommend? I only know that RAID mirror is (allegedly) safe that's as far as my knowledge goes.

 

[cyberjock]

Well, I'd definitely get the PDF of the manual from doc.freenas.org and read my noobie presentation(link in my sig). Other than that, you've got a few days worth of reading and decisions that I can't make for you, so you really need to go get learned up on this stuff.

 

[KingRichard1st]

Well, I'd definitely get the PDF of the manual from doc.freenas.org and read my noobie presentation(link in my sig). Other than that, you've got a few days worth of reading and decisions that I can't make for you, so you really need to go get learned up on this stuff.

Thanks Cyberjock - Trying to run before I can walk! ;) Gotta learn somehow!