CIFS/SMB Performance Issues (RESOLVED)

[kranzel]

Hi all,


I recently update my FreeNAS from 9.2 to 9.3. Since the upgrade, my CIFS/SMB shares have suffered a significant performance decrease.


Prior to the FreeNAS upgrade, I was able to pull 90+MB/s from my Windows and Mac systems, both write and read. Now, the best I have reached is 12MB/s.


Other than the FreeNAS upgrade, nothing else has changed on my software or hardware.


After doing some searching around the forums, inhale seen some suggestions to similar issues. The most common is dropping the “SMB” version from 3 to 2. I have tried this with no success. I have also various reboots, turning the CIFS service on/off, remapping my shares on the desktop, and rebooting my switch, router, and testing all my cable with testers just to be on the safe side.


After all the above testing, I then did some transfer tests. I tried transferring the same 4.6GB file, to ensure the source file was the same. I tried to transfer it from my Windows and Mac systems. Each transfer attempt, I watched the CPU and Memory on my FreeNAS box, and it appeared fine. I also run weekly scrubs and have SMART enabled and the HDD appear fine.


So, I am reaching out for help here. My FreeNAS specs are below.


CPU: Intel Core i7 2600k

RAM: 16GB

FreeNAS Build: FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE-201501090144

ZFS Volume: RaidZ2 55% Utilized no compression


Thanks for any help.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Please test your network speed using iperf and test your pool speed using dd. Make sure when testing pool speed to use a file larger than the about of memory you have. I have a feeling you have a networking issue though.

What motherboard are you using and does it have a realtek nic?

 

[cyberjock]

12MB/sec sounds like you have a 100Mb link somewhere on your network.

 

[anodos]

12MB/sec sounds like you have a 100Mb link somewhere on your network.

In an under-caffienated moment I made that same mistake once.

 

[kranzel]

To "SweetAndLow"
Thanks for the response. I will test with iperf tonight. However, I don't think it is the network. Again, everything worked fine literally until the 9.3 upgrade finished, then the speeds dropped. But I will check. Further more, I have tested the cabling etc and it seems fine. I have also tested file transfer between the two machines and achieved the expected 90+MB/s.

To answer the question about the NIC. The MB on my FreeNAS and Windows box do have realtek NIC's, however they are disabled. I used Intel PRO CT 1000 PCIE1 cards in them. As for the Mac, it has the Apple ordained gods greatest NIC they have decided I should be privileged enough to use. So it must be perfect. :) /Sarcasm

To Cyberjock,
Hello Cyberjock. Apparently you live on these boards. Which is good since you have helped me a few times in the past. :)

My network set-up is very simple since this is my home network. There is One switch, which is a 48 Port GB switch with a max throughput of 438GBit. My system goes from my computer to my my switch via a direct cable attachment, then from the switch to the FreeNAS box. At any given point I am really the only person using it as well, so saturation isn't the issue. I have verified that system to system transfers seem to be fine, so it is limited to my FreeNAS box. Also, given the events happened immediately after the reboot completing the 9.3 upgrade, it seems likely related to that. However, i admit, in my younger years I worked in IT support and the amount of times I have heard, "Well it worked yesterday" to justify it not being the client side makes me ill. So, i am more than willing to conceed it could be my side, but all the tests would seem to point to FreeNAS, from my view.

Thanks both for your replies.

 

[L]

Can you try the test locally too? It will help determine if the bottleneck is in zfs or network stack.

 

[kranzel]

Can you try the test locally too? It will help determine if the bottleneck is in zfs or network stack.

Hi Linda,

First, giant stuffed hotdog = awesome

Secondly, when you say locally, what do you mean exactly? Just so I can do the right test.

 

[L]

Yep, my kids won it at an amusement park :)I wouldn't allow it in the house so it ended up all over our yard.

So if you can ssh into the box and just try to write to dataset, something like #iozone -a /mnt/pool/dataset or use the perf test in settings.

 

[cyberjock]

Can you post the output of "ifconfig" please?

 

[Pasquale61]

I would have to agree with cyberjock. 12MB/s is a classic indicator of a saturated 100M link. Does it ever spike above this, or is this pretty much the max? What kind of switch are you using? Is it a managed switch? If so, you can get into the switch and see what is going on with the port. It could be a duplex mismatch as well... you can compare your ifconfig with what the switch actually sees on the port. If you're still having issues. You can try connecting your Windows or Mac straight into the FreeNAS server with a crossover cable if you have one, just to eliminate the switch as a possibility. I believe many of the newer NIC's will auto-crossover, so you may not even need a special cable. You would need to statically assign an IP address to your PC though to try this.

 

[kranzel]

Hi All,

Sorry for the late reply. Was busy the last few days.

So, did an IPERF test and sure enough link appeared to be maxed out at 11MB/s.

So, I had to accept my network was the issue. But how, it was working just fine earlier and system to system was running as expected.

So, I went to switch ports on the switch, and then I saw that my server was plugged into my router, not my switch. My router, which provides my Firewall protection from my ISP{'s modem runs at a whopping 100Mbit's because my max ISP speed is only 60Mbits. So, dropped my FreeNAS box into the my actual Gigabit switch, and voila, issue solved.

So now I hang my geek head in shame and cry in the corner for a few more days. :)

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and help.

Issue resolved. Solution, PEBKAC.

 

[cyberjock]

Yep.. was ready to bet lots of money against you when you said it was definitely 1Gb. I've been around enough that someone claiming 11-13MB/sec *is* 100Mb without a doubt. ;)

 

[kranzel]

One other quick thing, How to I mark this as solved? I cannot seem to figure that out. :)

 

[cyberjock]

You can't edit the title of the post after the fact (I don't think). I marked it as resolved though. :)

 

[Ericloewe]

You can't edit the title of the post after the fact (I don't think). I marked it as resolved though. :)

I can edit the titles of my threads - or at least the option is presented to me.

 

[Chris Tobey]

I can edit the titles of my threads - or at least the optio is presented to me.

Yep - Top right > Thread Tools > Edit Title.