10 Gigabit Setup PC/NAS/UNRAID

[Mystikk]

Hello Unraid community.

Brand new UNRAID Pro license user - enjoying this product - but need guidance regarding 10gbit.

 

So I have a PC with 100tb+ data I want to move & multiple Synology/QNAP nas´ I want to move data from afterwards - on to the unraid server.

The PC has an Asus 10gbit network card + built in gigabit nic on the motherboard.

 

1) My question is what is the fastest way to transfer this much data?

 - Right now I use Krusader for moving from PC to UNRAID server - that is 1gbit speed which I know is maximum.

 

2) Is it possible to speed this up by installing a 10gbit card in the UNRAID server -and if so then how?

the windows PC disks are regular mechanical SATA disks of 10tb 12tb 14tb sizes

3) i know the disks are limited in speed but am I really limited to 110-120MiB/s ?

4) or could I get 3-4-500MiB/s by using 10gbit nic in unraid server?

 

All my synology/qnap nas only have 1gigabit ethernet so I assume I will have to live with that being limited.

 

I am willing to invest in hardware that may be needed to speed this process up - both for the NAS transfers & the windows 10 data transfers.

 

If any info is missing please let me know - I have left out all the specifics and details for the hardware as i am looking for a general solution to use 10gbit on my home network.

 

Thank you & Happy Holidays.

 

[Vr2Io]

You have 3 bottleneck

1. Qnap / Synology storage performance

2. Unraud parity array performance

3. Network performance

 

So, only got 10Gbps at your PC and Unraid won't help.

 

General method was use multiple 1G NIC ( bonding or individual ), then parallel transfer in disk bias to disk bias to save time. ( Unraid array without parity and add back at last step )

Edited December 25, 2021 by Vr2Io

[Mystikk]

Thanks Vr2lo.

 

I will add 10gbe NIC to the unraid server and I bought a 10gbe switch also.

This will hopefully help the transfers from the PC -> Unraid server.

 

Then I will look into getting a 2.5gbe or 5gbe adapter to use on the Synology/Qnap NAS to speed up things.

 

I need to upgrade anyway as I often move large chunks of data & I plan to build more UNRAID servers in 2022 also.

 

If there are any tips/guides/threads about this I will be happy to read up on things - just need to be pointed in the right direction.

[Vr2Io]

On 12/24/2021 at 5:09 AM, Mystikk said:

could I get 3-4-500MiB/s by using 10gbit nic in unraid server?

Yes if you cleanup all bottleneck, then got max 1GB/s transfer speed.

 

9 hours ago, Mystikk said:

Then I will look into getting a 2.5gbe or 5gbe adapter to use on the Synology/Qnap NAS to speed up things.

You mean existing Synology / Qnap hardware have multigiga support, if not, you can't speedup. Or you mean you will upgrade them if need ? I also use Synology / Qnap before, but they are not upgrade-able and so weak CPU/hardware. So now, just several Unraid build in my network, but only one is powerful as main storage.

 

9 hours ago, Mystikk said:

This will hopefully help the transfers from the PC -> Unraid server.

This also my current main usage, PC side just a ITX build with one NVMe only, at Unraid ( main storage ) is a 28 disks machine.

 

For Network part, I use optical (SFP+), switch aren't multigiga, previously use Mikrotik CSS326-24G-2S+RM ( 2 10Gb port ) but due to not enough port so change to Aruba JL682A ( 4 10Gb port ) .... nothing special.

 

For Unraid, you need decide what config will be best for you, I don't use SSD / mover, currently use multiple disk pools ( RAID0 ) for speedup things and parity array as backup. I previous use array as main storage, with large RAM cache ( 256GB ) to cache the transfer file and let it slowly flush to array, so high-speed transfer size also limit to ~200GB.

In general setup ( Unraid cache pool by NVMe ), you should got 300MB/s+ transfer speed, you can't expect disk array have high writing performance because data aren't stripe.

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by Vr2Io

[Mystikk]

For 2.5gbe adapter / 5gbe USB adapters like the QNAP QNA-UC5G1T - I will get 1 of these as I mainly have QNAP NAS´s that needs to be "emptied" on to UNRAID servers.

If I can speed that up from 1gbe to 5gbe that is weeks of transfer time saved.

I have 300tb+ data on NAS that needs moving besides the 100+tb in the Windows PC.

 

I already ordered a 10gbe NIC for unraid server and a 2 port 10gbe switch with 4 2.5gbe ports from QNAP.

 

I have cache in UNRAID on a 2TB NVMe disk - used as my "Download" destination for any downloads.

I did not setup mover properly yet because I am moving data 24/7 now.

 

The plan for the remaining transfer of data + future transfers & Backups to some of the QNAP Nas´s:

1. 10 Gbe NIC install in Unraid server

2. Disable motherboard network port (2.5gbe) in Unraid Server

3. Connect Win 10 PC + Unraid Server to 10 Gbe Switch

4. Transfer files Win 10 PC -> Unraid server and hopefully get 250MB/s (disk limitation more or less for Toshiba MG09 18tb)

4a. Test if its possible to Transfer simultaneously from the QNAP Nas with connection to a 2.5Gbe Port on the Switch - also with 250MB/s hopefully.

5. Add QNA-UC5G1T to my QNAP NAS & use the WIN 10 PC slot in the 10gbe Switch for the adapter

6. Transfer Files from QNAP NAS -> Unraid Server and hopefully get 250MB/s.

7. Add a 2.5Gbe adapter to another NAS and test if possible to transfer from 2 NAS simultaneously and get 2 x 250MB/s.

 

This plan is written also for my own reference so that I remember what to do when the hardware arrives

 

Does it matter at all that my ISP router is only 1 Gbe?

or is it only the "signal" that is used and then the switch is the device defining the network speed.

 

Other reason for network upgrade besides its for future-proof.

And when I download from the internet to the Cache on the Unraid server - same time as I have the file transfers running - I find that the file transfer speed & file download speed from theinternet runs at roughly 500mbit each - hopefully the network upgrade can eliminate this.

 

 

 

 

[Vr2Io]

53 minutes ago, Mystikk said:

USB adapters like the QNAP QNA-UC5G1T

Got it, miss those USB NIC.

 

55 minutes ago, Mystikk said:

Does it matter at all that my ISP router is only 1 Gbe?

It doesn't matter, this relate internet traffic only.

 

56 minutes ago, Mystikk said:

I find that the file transfer speed & file download speed from theinternet runs at roughly 500mbit each - hopefully the network upgrade can eliminate this.

500Mbps each is normal, because two job share 1Gbps. Once upgrade to 2.5G / 10G, you can got 1Gbps internet and 1.5G/9G for data transfer. ( in simple say )

[Mystikk]

Are there any settings I need to change or pay attention to ?

 

I get so confused when reading on the www what could be wrong and what should be changed etc.

 

I use the ASUS XG-C100C in my Win 10 PC + Unraid Server.

I updated the drivers in win 10 pc but not sure how to do that in unraid.

 

I did not change any settings in win10 yet but I read all kinds of stuff about jumbo frames and MTU and flow control but this is where my knowledge lacks.

 

So any advice is appreciated for a smoother setup and transition to 10gbe

[Vr2Io]

Use simple setup, use 10G NIC only ( unplug 1G NIC link ) at PC and Unraid by automatic or static IP, no need special settings or driver installation, if have issue then further troubshoot.

 

** At Unraid, setting 10G NIC MAC address be 1st NIC then reboot **

Edited December 27, 2021 by Vr2Io

[Mystikk]

Got the hardware today and for what I intended it works like a charm.

 

Simply plug and play and my transfer speeds to my MG09 18tb disks are now 250 MB/s

so now I can also download to my nvme cache drive while transferring all the date.

And I am future proof for a long time I guess.

 

My PC was unresponsive more or less on 1 Gigabit - while transferring -  but now I can use the PC also.

 

Waiting for the USB adapters to arrive to transfer with multiple threads.

[Vr2Io]

Enjoy !!