Poor network perfomance

[Gaucho]

Hello,

I just finished installing FreeNAS and setup (mounted) 2 volumes. Created a CIFS share and was able to access it from a Windows workstation.

I started copying a 1.5Gb file to test the network performance and it is performing very poorly: 845kb/s only!

See screenshot attached. NAS share is on Z: drive.

FreeNAS system is running on an ASRock AS68-UCC with Realtek RTL8201 onboard NIC.
Network runs over 100Mb (cabled) across home.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Gaucho

 

[gpsguy]

First of the all, dump the Realtek NIC and pick up an Intel. The Pro/1000 CT is ~$30 USD for an OEM version. A lot of Realtek's are realcrap.

Check your cabling, you might have a loose connection or bad cable.

Post the output of ifconfig in code tags.

For optimum performance, upgrade to gigabit Ethernet.


Sent from my phone

 

[Knowltey]

Have you tried it with other files, some files (and I have noticed this often with zip files and other archive files) will simply just perform poorly for read access, be it ver the network or even locally accessed. A file that I've found actually works quite reliable at least for me for good read speed is the 64-bit OpenSUSE ISO. If that thing transfers from my NAS at any slower than 60MB/s then I know that there is a problem somewhere.

 

[gpsguy]

BTW, please give us more details about your hardware. Especially the CPU and amount of RAM.


Sent from my phone

 

[joeschmuck]

First, this poster is running 100mb network so those folks running Gigabit networks, take that into account. What version of FreeNAS are you running? Seems to me that you posted earlier you were running 8.3.0. Just want everyone to know what you are working with. Also you said in the past your MB doesn't support AHCI which is a bit odd. And you have a real odd assortment of hard drives. The RealTek NIC should be fine for 100mb transfers.

I'd try to offer you some help but you truly need to explain your hardware setup and your home network setup in detail.

One test you can run will tell you how fast your internal speed is for your system and I think that is the first thing to test, but you need to list your hardware configuration when you post the results of the test I'm laying out for you.

Go to this link, run test #1 and post your results here, not in the linked location.
http://forums.freenas.org/threads/intel-nic-vs-realtek-nic-performance-testing.10325/

 

[Gaucho]

First of the all, dump the Realtek NIC and pick up an Intel. The Pro/1000 CT is ~$30 USD for an OEM version. A lot of Realtek's are realcrap.
Check your cabling, you might have a loose connection or bad cable.
Post the output of ifconfig in code tags.
For optimum performance, upgrade to gigabit Ethernet.

The NIC is onboard, and this mobo has only 2 expansion slots (one PCI-E and another PCI). I would like to add more HDs in the future using these PCI slots.....

I'll post the output of ifconfig later on, thanks.

Have you tried it with other files, some files (and I have noticed this often with zip files and other archive files) will simply just perform poorly for read access, be it ver the network or even locally accessed. A file that I've found actually works quite reliable at least for me for good read speed is the 64-bit OpenSUSE ISO. If that thing transfers from my NAS at any slower than 60MB/s then I know that there is a problem somewhere.

Not yet, I'll try this today. Thanks

BTW, please give us more details about your hardware. Especially the CPU and amount of RAM.

mobo ASRock AS68-UCC
CPU Phenom X4 @3.2Ghz (Quite'N'Cool + CPU throttle enabled in BIOS)
8Gb Non-ECC RAM (2x4Gb, the max supported by the board)
Realtek RTL8201 onboard NIC
2 x 2Tb Hitachis dissk
1 x 250Gb Seagate
1 x 160Gb Samsung

First, this poster is running 100mb network so those folks running Gigabit networks, take that into account. What version of FreeNAS are you running? Seems to me that you posted earlier you were running 8.3.0. Just want everyone to know what you are working with. Also you said in the past your MB doesn't support AHCI which is a bit odd. And you have a real odd assortment of hard drives. The RealTek NIC should be fine for 100mb transfers.

I'd try to offer you some help but you truly need to explain your hardware setup and your home network setup in detail.

Runnig FreeNAS 9.2 now (just reinstalled it, fresh installation, all settings on default)

Yes, the mobo does not support AHCI, just IDE or RAID modes. I selected IDE for all of them.

Home network: Siemens SS4200 ADSL modem with 5Mb link in bridge mode; next is a Semprom 939 1.8Ghz + 4Gb RAM + 2 NICS (10/100 each) running BrazilFW (former Coyote Linux), as router/proxy for entire network; next is a simple 10/100 8-port switch where I have the FreeNAS machine plugged with a cat 5e ethernet cable and the workstation you saw on the screenshot of the 1st post; there is also 2 D-Links DIR 631 and 615 around providing wireless access to an array of devices, and also 5 other PCs connected via cable. The Linux router provides everything (DCHP, DNS, etc). The FreeNAS and the D-Links routers have fixed IP, with their MAC adresses reserved.

One test you can run will tell you how fast your internal speed is for your system and I think that is the first thing to test, but you need to list your hardware configuration when you post the results of the test I'm laying out for you.

Go to this link, run test #1 and post your results here, not in the linked location.
http://forums.freenas.org/threads/intel-nic-vs-realtek-nic-performance-testing.10325/

Will do this tonight.


Thank you all

Gaucho

 

[cyberjock]

The NIC is onboard, and this mobo has only 2 expansion slots (one PCI-E and another PCI). I would like to add more HDs in the future using these PCI slots.....

Guess you should have considered that before buying a board with only 2 slots and Realtek, eh? In many cases, there is no substitute for an Intel NIC. Period.

Yes, the mobo does not support AHCI, just IDE or RAID modes. I selected IDE for all of them.

Hey there. That's another performance killer. AHCI allows you to use NCQ/TCQ which can affect performance. Particularly on fragmented systems and systems with random reads, which is exactly what ZFS is.

Also, building a system that maxes out at 8GB probably wasn't the best decision in the world if you were wanting a system to perform. 8GB is the minimum for ZFS and the manual makes it pretty clear that the single fastest way to increase performance is adding more RAM.

Can I take a guess that the 160GB Samsung is used as an L2ARC?

 

[joeschmuck]

Can I take a guess that the 160GB Samsung is used as an L2ARC?

You must stop looking at your crystal ball! That would be stupid to have an L2ARC on this system, well that is my opinion.

 

[Gaucho]

Guess you should have considered that before buying a board with only 2 slots and Realtek, eh? In many cases, there is no substitute for an Intel NIC. Period.

Sorry but I couldn't (and can't) afford anything more expansive. (and look - I was able to get this used mobo in an used online sales ;))

Hey there. That's another performance killer. AHCI allows you to use NCQ/TCQ which can affect performance. Particularly on fragmented systems and systems with random reads, which is exactly what ZFS is.

Also, building a system that maxes out at 8GB probably wasn't the best decision in the world if you were wanting a system to perform. 8GB is the minimum for ZFS and the manual makes it pretty clear that the single fastest way to increase performance is adding more RAM.

Can I take a guess that the 160GB Samsung is used as an L2ARC?

No, it is not used as L2ARC (don't know what is this, too advanced for me). Again, this system was built off low money. I spent like R$200 with everything (brazilian currency - aprox. US$120,00).

 

[cyberjock]

Sorry but I couldn't (and can't) afford anything more expansive. (and look - I was able to get this used mobo in an used online sales ;))

No, it is not used as L2ARC (don't know what is this, too advanced for me). Again, this system was built off low money. I spent like R$200 with everything (brazilian currency - aprox. US$120,00).

So you could say "you got what you paid for"? Paid little for it, get little performance... :P

 

[Gaucho]

So you could say "you got what you paid for"? Paid little for it, get little performance... :p

Yes, it seems so. Oh yeah - I'm accepting donations. :D

Don't you have any server-class motherboard laying around? :P

 

[joeschmuck]

I'll take donations too but I prefer cash.

I think you re going to need a lot of luck to make your system somewhat speedy. Make sure you report the results of that test as well. I'm curious how bad you have it.

 

[Gaucho]

What do you guys think about this combo?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SuperMicro-...280824?pt=COMP_EN_Servers&hash=item1e88271238

It seems to be excellent cost x benefit, right? It also comes with 2 Xeons E5310.....

Would this combo run FreeNAS?

Thanks

 

[cyberjock]

The cost versus benefit depends on your opinion of them, and how you plan to use the system.

FB-DIMMS eat power, that's why the technology was born and died in 1 generation. So for a 24x7 system(which FreeNAS expects) you are going to burn ALOT of watts. FBDIMMs are also outrageously expensive(Think $75 for a 2GB stick.. yes, 2GB). 4GB sticks are $150 or so. That board comes with no RAM.

That CPU also has an idle wattage that is *significantly* higher than the newer generation.

It's also 1.6Ghz, which means that CIFS performance may suck since CIFS is single threaded.

So as a system that you might be considering for CIFS, intended to be on 24x7, and still requires the FBDIMMs I think you're getting ripped off horribly for your intended function.

To be honest, I could probably build a brand spanking new system with a 3.3Ghz Pentium that will smoke that system in performance and watts used while being cheaper than what your system will cost you after you pay for the ebay item and the RAM. I'd do the math, but its not really worth my time because it's so horribly skewed in price it's not funny.

 

[Gaucho]

The cost versus benefit depends on your opinion of them, and how you plan to use the system.

FB-DIMMS eat power, that's why the technology was born and died in 1 generation. So for a 24x7 system(which FreeNAS expects) you are going to burn ALOT of watts. FBDIMMs are also outrageously expensive(Think $75 for a 2GB stick.. yes, 2GB). 4GB sticks are $150 or so. That board comes with no RAM.

That CPU also has an idle wattage that is *significantly* higher than the newer generation.

It's also 1.6Ghz, which means that CIFS performance may suck since CIFS is single threaded.

So as a system that you might be considering for CIFS, intended to be on 24x7, and still requires the FBDIMMs I think you're getting ripped off horribly for your intended function.

To be honest, I could probably build a brand spanking new system with a 3.3Ghz Pentium that will smoke that system in performance and watts used while being cheaper than what your system will cost you after you pay for the ebay item and the RAM. I'd do the math, but its not really worth my time because it's so horribly skewed in price it's not funny.

Ok :(

So could you please help me finding a system that matches your description? It has to have at least 16Gb of RAM, low wattage, a fast CPU for single threads and cheap :D

Btw I'm asking that guy to include all the RAM that's showing up on the pictures for an inexpansive price. Let's see if it works.

Regards

 

[cyberjock]

Yes.. please check out our stickies... that will let you pick out the hardware for the price range you want(as long as your price range is within reason).

 

[Gaucho]

Yes.. please check out our stickies... that will let you pick out the hardware for the price range you want(as long as your price range is within reason).

I saw that, but the research within ebay is long and sometimes tedious, because there are way too many options!

I was looking for entreprise-class motherboards lately, skipping completely the desktop line. For this particular one, I (thgought that I) found 2 CPUs + 2 Intel Gigabite LANs + entreprise motherboard for just %50, which would be just excellent.
Actually I was asking you to look at ebay and suggest me something :). It can be an used one, not necessarily new.

REgards

 

[cyberjock]

Yeah, I don't really go shopping for other people. There's tradeoffs with every build, and experience has shown that I just don't want to do that because they'll often get upset later when they figure out what the missed out on. As a general rule, we provide a few recommended parts in our stickies, but that's about it. Nobody here is going to build you a server off of ebay, newegg, or amazon. We critique builds, we don't build the builds.

 

[Gaucho]

Interesting opinion, however I partially don't agree with it. When I ask for help, of course I'm ready to listen to all kinds of offer, and I won't mandatory buy the server other ppl suggest me. I will do my own research in the meantime. And of course I won't be upset about this and that missing (that's my opinion however. There are crazy people around the world and I understand your point), in the very end it is my decision.

I just asked for some expert advise due to the massive amount of options. Your insights about the FB-DIMM memory were very useful, I dropped this option right away. To dig into everything offered is really time consuming. At least for me :)

Regards

 

[joeschmuck]

Cyberjock is correct. We really expect you to do all the legwork yourself, just as we did. We are more than happy to review the pieces of a NAS that you want to put together and it helps me if you tell exactly what your NAS will be used for, meaning work load, drive encryption, deduplication, medium office environment, jails like Plex or Couch Potato. There are a lot of examples of diferent hardware here in the forums and if you read them, you will see what works, what some folks are having a hard time with, and all sort of odd crap too.

Expert advice we try to give but we do not know all hardware configurations that work and I myself will only nod my head up and down on equipment I know for a fact will work, meaning I've used it or I know someone who has used that configuration. I can tell you what Cyberjock recommends (Read a few threads where he comments on MB & CPUs), it's always the same thing and it always works but it's not cheap either. If you want lower cost then look at my tagline because I consider my system to be very fair but it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of what Cyberjock recommends. Truth be told, I'd like to have those bells and whistles but the cost was just too much for me to justify. And I'm not pushing my system either but I'll tell you it works flawlessly to date.

Anyway, good luck in your research.