FreeNAS box just becomes..unresponsive

[ae00711]

after encountering some bitrot / corrupted files on my main (windows) rig, I decided it was time to put together a FreeNAS box. Specs are as follows:

Intel Xeon X3450 (4c/8t, s1156)
Supermicro X8SIL-F
4x 4GB Micron ECC+REG DDR3-1333
Intel 330 120GB for OS (FreeNAS)
2x 2TB Hitachi (7.2K-rpm, in a mirror array)

initially Cat5E, changed out to new Cat6A throughout - less than 10 metres between FreeNAS and my file server, from which data is coming
initially a cheap 8-port TP-Link Gb switch, now a Netgear ProSafe JGS524 24-port Gb switch

I have no idea what the problem is, barely know how to explain it...

it was working fine, transfers were happening at a rate that would be expected of a 1Gb network. Then the box just stopped transferring. No explanation, just dropped of the network. I have a monitor plugged into the box, nothing appeared on there, no error messages, nothing. Restarted the box, re-did the transfer - all at 100Mb - painfully slow. Changed out switch and cabling, bam, nice and fast transfers again - BUT - dropped out, twice, just no longer supposedly connected, although activity LEDs on the onboard NIC (Intel) and the Netgear switch say its still there - the netgear even has a green led active, green = 1Gb rate.

what gives? why is this box so flakey with the network??

 

[ae00711]

also, what is the 'best practices' for setting up FreeNAS to be friendly with sharing over the network, with only windows boxes on the LAN?

 

[Chris Moore]

also, what is the 'best practices' for setting up FreeNAS to be friendly with sharing over the network, with only windows boxes on the LAN?

Here are links to a couple of guides:

Uncle Fester's Basic FreeNAS Configuration Guide
https://www.familybrown.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=fester:intro

Building, Burn-In, and Testing your FreeNAS system
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/building-burn-in-and-testing-your-freenas-system.38/

Also, there is a lot of information in the manual, but you have not provided some of the most basic information that we need to be able to help you.
Here is a guide that will help you with that:

Updated Forum Rules 4/11/17
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/updated-forum-rules-4-11-17.45124/