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Is this old hardware too slow?


burg

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Hi all, 

 

I've setup DSM on an old laptop I had lying around and it's all installed and up and running fine. No noticeable lag, 1% CPU and 7% RAM usage at idle. However I'm getting absolutely dreadful transfer speeds. The laptop is connected to a BT home hub via ethernet cable and my macbook is connected over WiFi, although going via ethernet doesn't make a massive difference when tested. Transferring a single 1GB file from a windows laptop to the DSM laptop was transferring at a solid 11.4MB/s over ethernet. 

 

So I'm not sure what the exact spec is but this is what the synology DSM reports it as:

 

CPU: Intel Xeon D-1527 2Ghz

RAM: 3GB

HDD: 500GB SATA.

LAN: 1000Mbps, Full Duplex, MTU 1500.

 

Unsure where to check for the bottleneck, any tips on what to check next please? 

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I don't think that even an older 2.5" HDD with 5,400rpm would be that slow.

 

11.4MB/s sound like 100Mbit only. Windows was and is never that exact when it comes to display accurate transfer speeds. You could try a direct cable connection between the 2 laptops and check if the speed remains. But my guess is that your DSM's NIC runs at 100Mbit/s.

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21 hours ago, sbv3000 said:

check the spec of the hdd,  my guess is that its a 5400rpm drive, that will be a limiting factor I think. 

 

I'll check that later when home, hopefully it's written on the drive as I don't think you can check that from within DSM?

 

1 hour ago, jensmander said:

I don't think that even an older 2.5" HDD with 5,400rpm would be that slow.

 

11.4MB/s sound like 100Mbit only. Windows was and is never that exact when it comes to display accurate transfer speeds. You could try a direct cable connection between the 2 laptops and check if the speed remains. But my guess is that your DSM's NIC runs at 100Mbit/s.

 

I'll get a stat from my macbook too. Do you think DSM is incorrectly reporting it as "1000Mbps, Full Duplex, MTU 1500" then? 

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5 hours ago, burg said:

I'll get a stat from my macbook too. Do you think DSM is incorrectly reporting it as "1000Mbps, Full Duplex, MTU 1500" then? 

 

I had the problem with a Relatek 8111 onboard NIC. After a initial install of DSM 6.2 with loader 1.03b the transfer speeds where @ 110MB/s, Gigabit ethernet speed. After installing Update 2 DSM still stated that the speed is 1000Mbps but transfer speed dropped to 10MB/s. I added an Intel Pro 1000 and everything worked fine again.

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The drive is a Hitachi SATA 3.0Gb/s drive running at 5400RPM. Does it really make THAT much of a difference in terms of speed? 

 

Since this is a laptop I'm not sure there's much I can do about the network card? All research online points to it being gigabit speeds. 

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I've had realtek issues myself where speed starts high but suddenly drops. How are you measuring the traffic? DSM widgets are not that 'accurate' you probably need an snmp monitor for truer readings. I mentioned the hdd because in my experience, a slower drive 'cant keep up' with the rest of the system, maybe you could try an SSD or 7200 spare drive to help diagnostics?

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Sounds like it's only running at 100Mbits..

If you're sure you have Gigabit ports at both ends then it could be a dodgy cable (I had one last week that wasnt terminated properly running at 100MBit until repaired)..

No 5400 shouldnt make too much difference - though it is an old laptop. How old? What's the model?

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Any suggestions on how to track the traffic? Currently I've downloaded a single 1GB file from a speed test website and I'm just using the system tools (drag and drop copy) to transfer them over, which I can understand might not be over accurate but it will be how the drive is generally used...

 

On 9/24/2018 at 7:00 PM, Hostilian said:

Sounds like it's only running at 100Mbits..

If you're sure you have Gigabit ports at both ends then it could be a dodgy cable (I had one last week that wasnt terminated properly running at 100MBit until repaired)..

No 5400 shouldnt make too much difference - though it is an old laptop. How old? What's the model?

 

The laptop spec points to gigabit and the BT home hub is gigabit so I think that part is fine. I'll try another cable tonight as I've only used the one so far but have a few lying around.

 

The laptop is pretty vintage as it was an old one the parents had that I re-purposed. I believe it's a Dell Studio 1537 (or one of the studio 15* series), but with extra RAM (3GB total). Unsure on actual age though.

Edited by burg
clarity
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I use a 4GB ISO file.. It doesnt really matter what you use..

Yeah, copy and paste fine - though do it in both directions. You should see transfer speeds as you copy (or you can time it and work it out).

 

Hang on a minute, are you trying to transfer this file over Wifi??

If it's; 

Macbook <wifi to> HomeHubRouter <cable to> NAS

....then the bottleneck is probably the Wifi.

Disable your Wifi card and test with a cable plugged into your Macbook..

 

The only speeds you can reliably test via Wifi are your Wifi speeds...

 

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Mostly over WiFi as that's how I plan on really using it. 

 

Some timing stats for transferring a 512Mb file (mac to DSM) over wifi and cable from the mac to the homehub:

 

WiFi: 3minutes 17seconds.

Cable (usb ethernet adapter into mac): 43seconds.

 

Massive difference over WiFi although 43seconds for 512Mb for cable doesn't seem great... I do notice the transfer bar isn't smooth so it'll do a burst then stay on the same value for 5-10 seconds before jumping again. Maybe the LAN support on this card is just no good :(

 

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USB ethernet adapter... LOL. Too many questions!!  :)

I reckon there's your problem.. Aren't they only 100MBit or at least a bit 'sucky'???

 

Do you have another PC/Laptop with a proper network port - to properly test your speeds?  ;)

For Wifi - If it's not Wireless N standard at least, your wifi speeds aren't going to be great.. (Wireless AC is much better - up to a Gig - we have them all over the house)

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Haha it's a macbook! I can't remember the last time they had ethernet ports, or any new slim laptops for that matter :P

 

My work lenovo laptop has an ethernet port so I'll give that a go when I get a chance and see what that comes back with. Both macbook and hub should be N standard at least... 

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To throw another spanner in the works.... If I upload a larger 1GB file via the web interface in Chrome I get 30 - 60MB/s over WiFi (45 seconds)! A 40GB file also took 37 mins which I'd say is good enough.

 

I think I'm connecting correctly when I mount the drive in OSX so I have no idea what's causing this massive difference.... When I use the work laptop with built in ethernet I get 85MB/s upload via the web interface. Sadly due to policy it doesn't look like I'm able to mount the drive in windows to try a transfer via that.

 

Any ideas why mounting the drive would be THAT much slower?

Edited by burg
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On 9/28/2018 at 3:23 PM, burg said:

To throw another spanner in the works.... If I upload a larger 1GB file via the web interface in Chrome I get 30 - 60MB/s over WiFi (45 seconds)! A 40GB file also took 37 mins which I'd say is good enough.

 

I think I'm connecting correctly when I mount the drive in OSX so I have no idea what's causing this massive difference.... When I use the work laptop with built in ethernet I get 85MB/s upload via the web interface. Sadly due to policy it doesn't look like I'm able to mount the drive in windows to try a transfer via that.

 

Any ideas why mounting the drive would be THAT much slower?

That might be SMB or AFS issues then

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On 9/28/2018 at 3:23 PM, burg said:

To throw another spanner in the works.... If I upload a larger 1GB file via the web interface in Chrome I get 30 - 60MB/s over WiFi (45 seconds)! A 40GB file also took 37 mins which I'd say is good enough.

 

I think I'm connecting correctly when I mount the drive in OSX so I have no idea what's causing this massive difference.... When I use the work laptop with built in ethernet I get 85MB/s upload via the web interface. Sadly due to policy it doesn't look like I'm able to mount the drive in windows to try a transfer via that.

 

Any ideas why mounting the drive would be THAT much slower?

40GB file in 37 mins is 18MB/sec. Which is pretty rubbish..

 

You dont need to map drives, just bring up Windows File Explorer and enter the \\IPADDRESS\Sharename  OR   \\HOSTNAME\Sharename   into the address bar..

Copying via the web interface is a bit odd (I wouldn't use it to compare performance unless absolutely necessary).. Use mapped drives or go direct to the share - as above..

Once the Syno box is configured and running, there should be no need to go to the web interface for anything other than managing the box..

 

There is also no point comparing transfers over Wifi to anything because;

- It's slow

- it's frequently the speed bottleneck

- speeds vary

- it requires a lot more configuration than ethernet cable

 

If you're concerned about how your Syno Box is performing, quote ethernet cable speeds ONLY..

Adding Wifi into the mix is like saying your car isn't able to go at its maximum speed - and thinking getting your mates to push it is a good test of maximum speed..  ;-)

 

Once you're happy with your ETHERNET only speeds to the Synology box, Wifi speeds is nothing to do with your Syno box - so look at your router/AP config or Network cards in your laptops...
 

#H

 

 

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