Hi

I'm new and know next to nothing about unraid.

I tried unraid after trying freenas but transferring files to the disks was so slow (300kb/s) and I got no real help on the forum as to why I was having problems.

I've just set up unraid and it's better ( i get about 700kb/s over ethernet) but it's still really slow. at this rate it will take me forever to copy stuff over.

I have a couple of questions:

1. how can I speed up file transfers? I'm guessing I've overlooked something.

2. can i copy files from my 2tb usb hard drive straight to unraid without having to copy them to my pc first?

 

Thanks for any help.

I've just set up unraid and it's better ( i get about 700kb/s over ethernet) but it's still really slow. at this rate it will take me forever to copy stuff over.

This sounds very slow.  What speed Ethernet are you using?  That sort of speed sounds like slow WiFi or 10Mbps wired ethernet.

2. can i copy files from my 2tb usb hard drive straight to unraid without having to copy them to my pc first?

What format are the disks in?    It should be possible to plug them into the unRAID server (either using a spare SATA port or a USB adaptor) and mount them.  You can then do a local copy.    You will have to do a little work at the Linux command line to do this, but it will be much faster.

Hi,

I've no idea what ethernet speed Ive got.

I'm using my router given me by sky broadband http://www.sky.com/shop/broadband-talk/sky-hub/

Do you think this might be the problem?

 

If you are connected to the Hub via WiFi then it will definitely slow you dramatically.  To get any sort of decent speed you need a wired connection of at least 100Mbps, and preferably 1Gbps.  The hub you mention seems to be limited to a maximum of 100Mbps which is very slow by modern home router standards.

 

Connecting the disk directly to the unRAID server and copying it locally will probably be something like 50 times faster that the speeds you are currently getting.

That hub is 100Mbps ethernet so you should be able to transfer at about 10MBps. You're going over 10X slower than that. It might be your USB drive being so slow. Try copying some big files to your PC hard disk and then copy those files from the PC to the server.

 

Is your PC connected wirelessly or with a cable to that hub?

The speeds you're getting are almost certainly due to a wireless connection.

 

You do NOT want to copy TB's of data via wireless !!

 

Check your PC's Ethernet adapter and see if it's a 100Mb or a Gb adapter.  If you're running Windows, just go to Device Manager, and look at the "Network adapters"  If you have a Gb adapter, then do yourself a favor and buy a gigabit switch.  These are very inexpensive, and you can then connect the switch to one of your router's ports; and your PC and UnRAID server both to the switch -- and you'll then get Gb speeds between them.    This will increase your transfer rate to 30 MB/sec [i.e. 30,000 KB] or more.

 

Once you've done that, you can simply connect the drive to your PC and copy data directly from the drive to UnRAID, and it will copy at the maximum speed UnRAID can write it anyway (assuming you have a parity drive).

 

thanks for your help guys.

My motherboard has a Broadcom gigabit ethernet adapter.

ive bought one of these to help with transferring stuff

http://www.ebuyer.com/516782-on-networks-5-port-gigabit-network-ethernet-switch-dsg005-199uks

hopefully that will do the trick?

hopefully that will do the trick?

 

Yes, that will do nicely.  You need to have Gb ports on BOTH your PC and the UnRAID server to run at Gb rates, but even if one of them isn't Gb you'll still get a bit over 10MB/s with that switch -- a major improvement over what you're getting now.

 

... Don't forget to pick up some Ethernet cables if you don't already have them.  You'll need one to go from the router to the switch;  one from the switch to your PC; and one from the switch to the UnRAID server  [be sure you get the right lengths].  I'd buy Cat-6 cables; but Cat-5e will work.