Hi folks,

  I am at my wits end trying to figure this out.  Here is my system info:

 

Version:  unRAIDServer-5.0-i386 - no plugins

 

Hardware:

 

ASUS P8H77-I LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i3-3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i33220

SILVERSTONE ST45SF 450W SFX12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL 8GB Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600MHz (2X4GB)

HGST 4TB Deskstar Coolspin 3.5" SATA III (4)

Seagate 4TB Barracuda 3.5" (1)

 

I have one 4tb drive in the server as a parity drive.  Not assigned.

I have another 4tb drive in as drive 1. 

I have three more 4tb drives that are each half full with data that I need to transfer into the array. 

I have a usb 3.0 docking station that I can use to transfer the data from each drive into the array.

As I transfer the data off the drive, I will place the now empty drive into the array and format it for use.  Rinse and repeat until all the drives and data are in the system. 

 

I have connected the unraid server directly to the laptop via a Cat5e cable (the only one I have out here in Afghanistan).  The system is only transferring at 26ish mbs.  At this rate I am looking at well over 20 hours per disc to get the data into the array. 

 

I initially tried the method listed in the following configuration guide with no success.  I could not get the unraid server to mount the drive.

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Configuration_Tutorial

 

Can someone explain why the transfer speed is so slow and how to fix it.  Also, if there is a faster way to transfer into the array I am all ears. 

 

I have attached my syslog in case it is needed.

 

Thanks in advance for the help.  The troops are getting restless as I had hoped to have this up a week ago.

 

Jason

syslog.txt

Windows 7 and 8, I believe, have some kind of network bandwidth throttling setting that can be changed. There's a couple of threads on this forum about it.

http://legodave.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/network-bandwidth-throttling-in-windows-7/  maybe???

Since you want the 4TB drives that have data on them to end up in the array, by far the fastest way to copy the data would be to do it all locally within the server:

• Plug the drives with data into the server in the physical location where you want them to end up.  Do NOT add them to the array at this point.
  
• Mount the drives manually from the console (or via a telnet session).  If the drives are in NTFS format, then you will also need the ntfs-3g package to be installed to handle NTFS drives large than 2TB
  
• Copy the files from a console/telnet session from a mounted disk onto the array.  This is probably most easily done using something like Midnight Commander (the 'mc' command)
  
• Once you have got the files off a disk, you probably want to run the preclear_disk script to prepare it for adding to the array.  Note with 4TB drives this can take some time - up to 2 days to run a full cycle on a 4TB drive.
  
• When a disk is pre_cleared you can now stop the array; add the drive to the array; start the array; select the option to format the drive.
  
• Repeat for each drive in turn.
  

If you go down this route make sure you have made a note of the serial numbers of the drives, and how they relate to where you have plugged them in. This will stop you having an accident such as pre-clearing the wrong drive.

 

If you have questions on the above procedure feel free to ask further questions.

The server will be usable after the first disk is copied. Keep copying subsequent disks while users access the first,

Windows 7 and 8, I believe, have some kind of network bandwidth throttling setting that can be changed. There's a couple of threads on this forum about it.

http://legodave.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/network-bandwidth-throttling-in-windows-7/  maybe???

 

Thanks for the info but I tried those registry tweeks as well as a couple more I found but no luck.  Starts out at around 200mbs and goes to 25-29mbs within a minute or so.  Very odd.

 

Since you want the 4TB drives that have data on them to end up in the array, by far the fastest way to copy the data would be to do it all locally within the server:

• Plug the drives with data into the server in the physical location where you want them to end up.  Do NOT add them to the array at this point.
  
• Mount the drives manually from the console (or via a telnet session).  If the drives are in NTFS format, then you will also need the ntfs-3g package to be installed to handle NTFS drives large than 2TB
  
• Copy the files from a console/telnet session from a mounted disk onto the array.  This is probably most easily done using something like Midnight Commander (the 'mc' command)
  
• Once you have got the files off a disk, you probably want to run the preclear_disk script to prepare it for adding to the array.  Note with 4TB drives this can take some time - up to 2 days to run a full cycle on a 4TB drive.
  
• When a disk is pre_cleared you can now stop the array; add the drive to the array; start the array; select the option to format the drive.
  
• Repeat for each drive in turn.
  

If you go down this route make sure you have made a note of the serial numbers of the drives, and how they relate to where you have plugged them in. This will stop you having an accident such as pre-clearing the wrong drive.

 

If you have questions on the above procedure feel free to ask further questions.

 

Thanks for the info.  I tried to do this initially but I kept getting wrong file system errors with the mount command.  I assume that is because I did not have the ntfs-3g package installed.  It did show the full capacity of the disc using fdisk though. 

 

I will try again once the first disc is finished. 

 

Also, I don't know if I see the need to preclear discs with a new system.  Format should be good enough I assume. 

 

The server will be usable after the first disk is copied. Keep copying subsequent disks while users access the first,

 

Sounds good.  Thanks very much!

Thanks for the info.  I tried to do this initially but I kept getting wrong file system errors with the mount command.  I assume that is because I did not have the ntfs-3g package installed.  It did show the full capacity of the disc using fdisk though. 

 

I will try again once the first disc is finished. 

 

Also, I don't know if I see the need to preclear discs with a new system.  Format should be good enough I assume. 

As long as you do not have a parity disk assigned then you could get away without doing a pre-clear.  However the moment you assign parity you want to do it before adding the disk to stop unRAID doing at the add stage and taking the array off-line for an extended period of time.

 

The other reason for doing a pre-clear is to thoroughly test a new disk and avoid 'early life mortality' issues.  In my experience the failure rate of brand-new disks is higher than one would expect.  However if you are confident the disks in question are good that may not be an issue.

.............Starts out at around 200mbs and goes to 25-29mbs within a minute or so.  Very odd.

It might be a good time to post another syslog; if at all possible one from startup through a point where the copying slowdown is occurring. Thanks!