Hi all UnRAID Experts,

 

Right now I'm evaluating purchasing UnRAID.

After doing some tests everything is perfect and works as expected.

Everything but one thing that I think it must be a misconfiguration I made.

 

I've tried to transfer a large file (200GB) from my PC to a share that is cache only on my UnRAID system using Samba.

The problem is the transfer speeds. I'm getting a constant 69MB/s.

I know I'm using right now a 1Gbit NIC on both ends and the swith is also 1Gbit.

The cache drive was created by using 2 NVME WD SN770 in RAID 1 using BTRFS.

 

But my point is, when I transfer the same file from the same PC to a QNAP system (using the same NVME drives), I get 118MB/s.

 

I've read about Turbo Write but this is also relevant for the cache drive?

Is the problem related to RAID 1 or for using BTRFS ?

Is this normal? What am I missing?

 

Sorry for my english, I'm from Portugal!

 

PS: Fix Common Problems is clear. No error reported.

 

Regards

 

Edited July 2, 20242 yr by PetabyteLDA
Added Fix Common Problems topic.

Start by running a single thread iperf test in both directions to confirm the LAN is OK.

30 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

Start by running a single thread iperf test in both directions to confirm the LAN is OK.

 

I'm trying to find it but I can't. The only place I could find this tool was in a docker container. Should I install it or it should be installed within UnRAID O.S. ?

How do I install it?

 

Unraid already includes iperf.

 

root@Tower1:~# iperf3 -v
iperf 3.11 (cJSON 1.7.13)
Linux Tower1 6.8.12-Unraid #3 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue Jun 18 07:52:57 PDT 2024 x86_64
Optional features available: CPU affinity setting, IPv6 flow label, TCP congestion algorithm setting, sendfile / zerocopy, socket pacing, authentication, bind to device, support IPv4 don't fragment

 

Where??

 

I'm trying to run it from the terminal inside UnRAID:

 

I'm using UnRAID 6.12.10

 

Edited July 2, 20242 yr by PetabyteLDA

it's iperf3, see above

I apologize for my stupidity...

 

Here is the test between my desktop PC and UnRAID using 10Gbe NICs (on both) but with a 1Gbe Switch.

 

That looks good, post a large transfer graph form Windows explorer, also the diagnostics saved during the transfer.

Well, I don't know how you did it, but maybe my UnRAID system got scared from your expertise and started working normally...

 

I did this test with the same file this morning and it was at ~69MB/s, now it's ~106MB/s.

Maybe something was running on the NAS at the time I tried to copy the file... SDD Trim maybe?

 

I'll order a new switch with 10Gbe ports and I'll test it again.

Sorry to bother you with this, but my trial ends next weekend and I need to decide if I'll buy UnRAID or not.

Well, as this problem is solved, my conclusion is yes! It's an amazing Operating System for a Home Lab/NAS.

Thank you for your patience and support! It's an amazing community.

 

Regards!

Hi/Olá @JorgeB

 

Now I've upgraded to 10Gbe on both my Desktop and my NAS using the TP-LINK TX401 PCIe Card.

I'm using the QNAP Switch QSW-2104-2T (have 2 x 10Gbe Ports and 4 x 2.5Gbe ports).

 

The problem is the transfer speed from and to UnRAID cache.

 

After testing with iperf3, the transfer speed from Desktop to UnRAID is 6.75 Gbits/s:

 

And the transfer speed from UnRAID to Desktop is lower at 3.16 Gbit/s!!

 

And If I test using the "--bidir" parameter the result is even worst.

 

Can you help me solving this transfer speed issue?

Thank you in advance!

 

Regards,

Iperf only tests the network, so this is usually a NIC, cable, switch, or client PC problem.

I've already changed the cable and the test is exactly the same.

What else can I do to find what causing this issue?

 

Are there any setting I need to change in UnRAID to optimize the transfer?

 

3 hours ago, JorgeB said:

NIC, cable, switch, or client PC problem.

 

@JorgeB,

 

UnRAID detect the NIC as a 10Gbit Ethernet Card.

 

I've updated the firmware on the UnRAID machine and now the transfer speed are even worst!!

 

Is anything I can do to discover what is causing this issue?

Maybe a network setting is not right?

 

What do you suggest?

 

I already suggested what could be the problem, twice.

Yeah, I know. But you didn't suggested how to identify the problem.

Can you suggest any tool or method to identify the problem?

 

 

There's no tool that I know of, you'd need to swap those parts to try and identify the problem.

The problem was within the NIC's drivers in Windows 11.

After playing around with the Windows 11 driver, I could get a better result.

Right now I can get 9.30Gbit in one direction and 6.5Gbit on the other, using iPerf3.

 

Is there anything I can change in the configuration of UnRAID or the drivers to achieve > 9Gbit on both directions?

Is there any "guide" or "best practice" for configuring 10Gbe networking with UnRAID?

54 minutes ago, PetabyteLDA said:

Is there anything I can change in the configuration of UnRAID or the drivers to achieve > 9Gbit on both directions?

You can try Jumbo Frames, if all hardware supports it, but it usually provides a small increase, not that large.

Yeah, I've already tried it. It only increases from 9.30Gbit to 9.45Gbit and make no difference to the 6.50Gbit.

Anything else?

Not that I can think of without using a different NIC, in my experience Mellanox 10GbE NICs are the ones that usually work best regarding expected iperf speeds.

I've solved this issue.

The problem was within Windows 11 configuration of the NIC.

 

If you use VPNs, make sure you don't have the "Juniper Network Service" active.

Disabling it, make the network connection speed normal again.

Now I can get 9.25Gbit in both directions.