Network speeds

[Chris230291]

I'm trying to work out why i'm only getting 11MB/s transfer speeds to my server. My router supports Gigabit and so does the onboard NIC on both the server and my PC. I should be getting at least 100MB/s right?

Could it be my switch? I've got a Trendnet Gigabit Ethernet switch here that cost me £10. Is there any reason why you can spend much more on something that does the same thing? I realise more expensive ones support things like link aggregation, but as far as speed goes are they the same thing?

Could it be the cable runs? I heard the cable quality and run length can make a huge difference. Is my only solution to setup all the hardware in the same room using short good quality cables to see if it is the cable?

Any advice is appreciated!

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[Cru]

first thing i can think of would be that you're using a 100mbit cable?

 

[tinytomlogan]

Always as fast as the slowest hard drive......

minimum I get is 104MB/s but I cant do anything to make my network any quicker and Im transering from raid SSD's to a massive HDD raid array.

 

[Chris230291]

Absolutely no idea mate. How would I check that? Is it written on it? Even then I have no idea how many joins there might be throughout the house as it's all in the cavities and stuff. There's a couple of places where I can physically see it if I need to though.

Always as fast as the slowest hard drive......

minimum I get is 104MB/s but I cant do anything to make my network any quicker and Im transering from raid SSD's to a massive HDD raid array.

Surly I should be getting higher speeds until the RAM is full though? Or have I got that wrong and it doesn't work that way?

How do I find the bottleneck?

 

[Cru]

Absolutely no idea mate. How would I check that? Is it written on it? Even then I have no idea how many joins there might be throughout the house as it's all in the cavities and stuff. There's a couple of places where I can physically see it if I need to though.

yeah it usually is written on the cable
at 11MB/s i'd say cable and not HDD, that would be a bit too slow

 

[Chris230291]

I thought it might be the cable. I will try and have a look.

The drives are WD Greens which if I remember correctly are 100MB/s each after the cache is full. I have 8 of them in RAID Z on a card that supports 6Gb/s on each drive so it can't be the drives can it?

 

[tinytomlogan]

^^^^Double post above mate. Only warning youll get.

 

[Chris230291]

Well there's at least 2 different brands of cable that i can actually see. One says "EC Verified 100 OHM" along with what appears to be the model number or whatever of the cable. The other cable i can see has no markings at all.

Its the cable isn't it? Any way to prove it though?

Sorry Tom I'm not usually one to do that.

 

[Lazlo]

first thing i can think of would be that you're using a 100mbit cable?

If you are using Twisted Pair Cables, there is no such thing as a 100mbit cable. Most common cables are cat5e and cat6. If the cable is of decent quality you can use cat5e for gigabit but cat6 is usually recommended. Depending on the use case you select the shielding (sftp,...).
Let's put it this way unless you are using a broken or really shitty cable I doubt that's the problem.

Try to look up in your Router if the PC and Server are displayed as Gigabit devices. Sometimes the auto negotiation can make problems or components don't work well together.
My synology usb nas often had problems on my DLink Router. Had to re-plug several times before normal speeds where reached. Bought a good gigabit switch never looked back.

 

[tinytomlogan]

Try sending different files across the network. Then test HDD speeds both ends with something like HDTune or similar.

You need to test things first fella rather than asking empty questions.

 

[SuB]

Sorry Tom I'm not usually one to do that.

I've corrected a few of yours actually...

 

[Chris230291]

Let's put it this way unless you are using a broken or really shitty cable I doubt that's the problem.

Almost definitely the case if i'm honest. Serval brands, some without markings and several joins and HUGE runs. It's all DIY and ancient. It's been in the house for at least 10 years, joined and spliced many times.

Try to look up in your Router if the PC and Server are displayed as Gigabit devices. Sometimes the auto negotiation can make problems or components don't work well together.
My synology usb nas often had problems on my DLink Router. Had to re-plug several times before normal speeds where reached. Bought a good gigabit switch never looked back.

It doesn't display any of that info in my router. The PC displays "1000baseT" under speed in my network settings though.

Should i just put my laptop (Gigabit NIC) and my Switch right next to the server to make a mini network and see if i get higher speeds? if i do, then do i assume its the cables?


EDIT:

Try sending different files across the network. Then test HDD speeds both ends with something like HDTune or similar.

You need to test things first fella rather than asking empty questions.

The files i transfer are mainly audio and video files but occasionally different image formats too. I convert all of our physical media (DVD's and BluRays) to .MKV for streaming so each file is like 13GB. I'm sure you can imagine what a piss take it is putting them on the server.

I will download HDTune and see what it spits out. The server runs FreeNas though, in case that changes anything? My PC has an SSD so it cant be this end can it?

EDIT 2: This is what HD Tune is saying on my PC...

Seems too hight? It's running in a virtual machine so I ran a native test using Black Magic...

 

[Lazlo]

Almost definitely the case if i'm honest.

Should i just put my laptop (Gigabit NIC) and my Switch right next to the server to make a mini network and see if i get higher speeds? if i do, then do i assume its the cables?

That's a definitly a good method to narrow down the problem. If your PC and Server a normally connected both to the switch. And you get decent speed in this mini setup, it's most likely the cables in your house.

Redoing these is probably pretty costly and labor intensive. But if you do it right once with some decent cables and if it's even an option, you should be set for the next 10 years. Assuming we still need cables then.

Alternatively you could use home plugs etc.

 

[Chris230291]

That's a definitly a good method to narrow down the problem. If your PC and Server a normally connected both to the switch. And you get decent speed in this mini setup, it's most likely the cables in your house.

Redoing these is probably pretty costly and labor intensive. But if you do it right once with some decent cables and if it's even an option, you should be set for the next 10 years. Assuming we still need cables then.

Alternatively you could use home plugs etc.

Well i went ahead and tested it and it is in fact the cable slowing everything down. With my mini network setup i was getting 60-90 MB/s from the server. This was with CAT 5 by the way. Is it safe to assume that CAT 5E or CAT6 will get me even closer to Gigabit speeds?

The cost is something that'll we'll have to look into. Usually my dad can blag "samples" of products through his work, so fingers crossed he can blag a roll. The labour isn't really an issue either. If we can afford to i'll put in 2 cables side by side, not only for redundancy but at a later date even look into link aggregation for 2 Gigabit speeds.

So what cable is the best in terms of speed? Is there anything beyond CAT 6?

Cheers for all the help!

Chris.

 

[Lazlo]

Well i went ahead and tested it and it is in fact the cable slowing everything down. With my mini network setup i was getting 60-90 MB/s from the server. This was with CAT 5 by the way. Is it safe to assume that CAT 5E or CAT6 will get me even closer to Gigabit speeds?

90MB/s (720 mbit/s) is pretty decent. TBH I don't really know if you can increase the speed if you use cat 6, but unless you are transfering large files all the time it's more than enough for normal use (media server, file server, ...)

The cost is something that'll we'll have to look into. Usually my dad can blag "samples" of products through his work, so fingers crossed he can blag a roll. The labour isn't really an issue either. If we can afford to i'll put in 2 cables side by side, not only for redundancy but at a later date even look into link aggregation for 2 Gigabit speeds.

So what cable is the best in terms of speed? Is there anything beyond CAT 6?

Cheers for all the help!

Chris.

If you put in 2 cables side by side, choose a good shielding (wikipedia is your friend, I would have to look it up myself).

Beyond cat 6 there is cat 7. As far as I know it's only used for professional applications like connecting servers or high grade network components. It needs special connectors. So anybody trying to sell you a cat 7 cable with rj45 connectors wants to rip you off.
Haven't seen it at hand though. At work our network dudes use fibre channel for above gigabit.

And you're welcome.

 

[Chris230291]

Dont get me wrong, I'm pleased with the results but more is always nice.

Looking online it appears we'll be wanting cat 6a to err on the side of caution.

Here's what each cable type is rated for:

Cat5e:
Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters
10 Gigabit Ethernet up to 45 meters

Cat6:
Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters
10 Gigabit Ethernet up to 55 meters

Cat6a:
Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters
10 Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters

Thanks again Lazlo!