AFP file share frequently "drops" connection

[Lee Davies]

FreeNAS version: FreeBSD 9.3-RELEASE-p8 amd64

After recently setting up a FreeNAS box for our small office storage, we've noticed some peculiar things happening with the share.

We're all on Macs (ranging from OS X Yosemite to Mavericks) and the AFP service is on; the only other two are S.M.A.R.T. and SSH. There are several shares set up for various teams.

When we connect via the "Shared" section in Finder (the automatic network discovery) our first connection attempt is usually fine.

Then after a few minutes, random people will get disconnected or logged out and unable to reconnect through the Finder. The only way they can maintain a connection is to "force" a connection by connecting manually to the IP (afp://192.168.1.xxx).

Weirdly, connecting via IP seems fine so I'm wondering if this is an OS X mounting/remembering issue.

We've tried clearing DNS cache and changing from wi-fi to wired, all to no avail.

The Share Type on the volumes are set to "Mac" and we're using DHCP as we're unable to configure a static address -- something about a bad gateway but I've entered the gateway/router IP and still nothing.

There's one CRON job using the S3 plugin to backup to a S3 bucket but even disabling that doesn't make a difference.

We've disabled AFP and enabled CIFS and the problem doesn't seem to reoccur, although for some reason it makes it harder for people to connect via automatic network detection so the only way is to connect via IP.

I'm struggling to see what the problem is, or could be, so would appreciate any help at all :)

Show : Hardware specs

CPU: Intel Xeon E3 1270 v3 Haswell 4 Core
Motherboard: Supermiro X10SLH-F
RAM: 4x 8GB Samsung DDR3-1600 ECC 8GB (M391B1G73QH0-YK0)
HDD: 8x Seagate 2TB Constellation ES Enterprise Class SATA III
RAID Controller: LSI MegaRAID 8 Port SAS/SATA 9270-8i (set up in RAID 10)

Show : Output from osinfo.txt ('Save debug')

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE-201502162250 +
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Operating system type: FreeBSD
Operating system release: 9.3-RELEASE-p8
Operating system revision: 199506
Kernel version: FreeBSD 9.3-RELEASE-p8 #0 r275790+ffd50f5: Mon Feb 16 11:19:38 PST 2015
root@build3.ixsystems.com:/tank/home/jkh/build/93/FN/objs/os-base/amd64/fusion/jkh/93/FN/FreeBSD/src/sys/FREENAS.amd64
Hostname: N3RD.server.localhost
Name of kernel file booted: /boot/kernel/kernel

Show : Output from ifconfig

igb0: flags=8c02<BROADCAST,OACTIVE,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500

options=403bb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,TSO4,TSO6,VLAN_HWTSO>

ether 0c:c4:7a:0d:0e:aa

nd6 options=9<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED>

media: Ethernet autoselect

status: no carrier

igb1: flags=8943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500

options=400b8<VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,VLAN_HWTSO>

ether 0c:c4:7a:0d:0e:ab

inet 192.168.1.146 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255

nd6 options=9<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED>

media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)

status: active

ipfw0: flags=8801<UP,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 65536

nd6 options=9<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED>

lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 16384

options=600003<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>

inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128

inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x6

inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000

nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

bridge0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500

ether 02:29:8e:2b:db:00

nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>

id 00:00:00:00:00:00 priority 32768 hellotime 2 fwddelay 15

maxage 20 holdcnt 6 proto rstp maxaddr 2000 timeout 1200

root id 00:00:00:00:00:00 priority 32768 ifcost 0 port 0

member: epair0a flags=143<LEARNING,DISCOVER,AUTOEDGE,AUTOPTP>

ifmaxaddr 0 port 8 priority 128 path cost 2000

member: igb1 flags=143<LEARNING,DISCOVER,AUTOEDGE,AUTOPTP>

ifmaxaddr 0 port 3 priority 128 path cost 20000

epair0a: flags=8943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500

options=8<VLAN_MTU>

ether 02:ea:ba:00:08:0a

nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>

media: Ethernet 10Gbase-T (10Gbase-T <full-duplex>)

status: active

Show : Output from pciconf -lv

hostb0@pci0:0:0:0:class=0x060000 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x0c088086 rev=0x06 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = bridge

subclass = HOST-PCI

pcib1@pci0:0:1:0:class=0x060400 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x0c018086 rev=0x06 hdr=0x01

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = bridge

subclass = PCI-PCI

pcib2@pci0:0:1:1:class=0x060400 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x0c058086 rev=0x06 hdr=0x01

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = bridge

subclass = PCI-PCI

none0@pci0:0:20:0:class=0x0c0330 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c318086 rev=0x05 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = serial bus

subclass = USB

none1@pci0:0:22:0:class=0x078000 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c3a8086 rev=0x04 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = simple comms

none2@pci0:0:22:1:class=0x078000 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c3b8086 rev=0x04 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = simple comms

ehci0@pci0:0:26:0:class=0x0c0320 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c2d8086 rev=0x05 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = serial bus

subclass = USB

pcib3@pci0:0:28:0:class=0x060400 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c108086 rev=0xd5 hdr=0x01

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = bridge

subclass = PCI-PCI

pcib5@pci0:0:28:2:class=0x060400 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c148086 rev=0xd5 hdr=0x01

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = bridge

subclass = PCI-PCI

pcib6@pci0:0:28:3:class=0x060400 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c168086 rev=0xd5 hdr=0x01

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = bridge

subclass = PCI-PCI

ehci1@pci0:0:29:0:class=0x0c0320 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c268086 rev=0x05 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = serial bus

subclass = USB

isab0@pci0:0:31:0:class=0x060100 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c568086 rev=0x05 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = bridge

subclass = PCI-ISA

ahci0@pci0:0:31:2:class=0x010601 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c028086 rev=0x05 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = mass storage

subclass = SATA

none3@pci0:0:31:3:class=0x0c0500 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c228086 rev=0x05 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = serial bus

subclass = SMBus

none4@pci0:0:31:6:class=0x118000 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x8c248086 rev=0x05 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = dasp

mfi0@pci0:2:0:0:class=0x010400 card=0x92701000 chip=0x005b1000 rev=0x05 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'LSI Logic / Symbios Logic'

device = 'MegaRAID SAS 2208 [Thunderbolt]'

class = mass storage

subclass = RAID

pcib4@pci0:3:0:0:class=0x060400 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x11501a03 rev=0x03 hdr=0x01

vendor = 'ASPEED Technology, Inc.'

device = 'AST1150 PCI-to-PCI Bridge'

class = bridge

subclass = PCI-PCI

vgapci0@pci0:4:0:0:class=0x030000 card=0x080315d9 chip=0x20001a03 rev=0x30 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'ASPEED Technology, Inc.'

device = 'ASPEED Graphics Family'

class = display

subclass = VGA

igb0@pci0:5:0:0:class=0x020000 card=0x153315d9 chip=0x15338086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = network

subclass = ethernet

igb1@pci0:6:0:0:class=0x020000 card=0x153315d9 chip=0x15338086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00

vendor = 'Intel Corporation'

class = network

subclass = ethernet

Show : Output of /dev/drive/mdif0

smartctl 6.3 2014-07-26 r3976 [FreeBSD 9.3-RELEASE-p8 amd64] (local build)

Copyright (C) 2002-14, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org


/dev/mfid0: To monitor disks on LSI RAID load mfip.ko module and run 'smartctl -a /dev/passX' to show SMART information

Please specify device type with the -d option.


Use smartctl -h to get a usage summary

 

[SweetAndLow]

First of all you need to stop using raid with zfs on top of it. You will eventually lose all your data.

Now for your actually question. You need to configure your FreeNAS box to have a static IP. After you have done that you should configure it to have a proper DNS entry. After those two things are fixed see if you still have the problem and go from there. Also afp is currently deprecated by Apple and smb is the current standard. So you might want to look at moving everyone to smb. I use it on my Mac and it works great but you probably need to disable afp on the server when using smb because afp can mess with network discovery.

 

[Lee Davies]

I wasn't aware using RAID with ZFS volumes would result in data loss. Could you point to some documentation so I can read up?

I was advised by someone far greater than me to let the RAID controller manage the RAID, and not FreeNAS.

I have previously tried setting up the server with a static IP, although it wouldn't connect due to bad gateways. I shall give this another go and re-post if I get it working and the issue persists.

 

[SweetAndLow]

I'ts plastered all over the forum and using it together doesn't even make sense. Here the link to the noob guide that you should read.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/

 

[cyberjock]

I wasn't aware using RAID with ZFS volumes would result in data loss. Could you point to some documentation so I can read up?

I was advised by someone far greater than me to let the RAID controller manage the RAID, and not FreeNAS.

No joke, this is probably the single biggest piece of (mis)information you could ever, EVER find on ZFS.

Anyone that tells you to do ZFS on RAID is basically a complete and total... umm. yeah. I'll stop there. You get the idea. You should basically *never* take his advice again as he's telling you to do something that is the stupidest thing you could *ever* do with ZFS.

 

[Savage]

I wasn't aware using RAID with ZFS volumes would result in data loss. Could you point to some documentation so I can read up?

I was advised by someone far greater than me to let the RAID controller manage the RAID, and not FreeNAS.

I have previously tried setting up the server with a static IP, although it wouldn't connect due to bad gateways. I shall give this another go and re-post if I get it working and the issue persists.

The nuanced answer would be that in order for all of the fancy ZFS integrity functionality to work it needs to be creating the RAID volumes/pools through it's own mechanisms.

The main problem is that your raid is a single volume pool. Single zfs volumes don't have the same integrity protection, self healing etc as raidz/mirror pools. ZFS wants full control of it's volumes and HW raid sort of flys in the face of it. It isnt a traditional filesystem. There are plenty of other gotchyas too, but basically it isn't worth messing with HW raid + ZFS.

If you want to run hardware raid you should probably run some other NAS solution.

 

[L]

I have been encountering the same problems you are with afp. I recently have been setting the share type to MAC when creating the dataset and I haven't yet looked at what is in the .apple file that is place in the dataset but it seems to help.

 

[cyberjock]

@Savage

Not sure why you ressurected a thread that is 3 months old, but there was no reason to....