very very slow transfers

[msi1]

Hi,
I have just set up a nas box with all new hardware: corei3, 8gb ram and 3xWD 2tb green drives and the latest stable freenas. I also have a gigabit switch with cat6 cable.
However when ii try and transfer data from a windows machine via cable, for 10 seconds or so it runs at 40gb/s then over the next 30 seconds it slows down to several kb/s.

My question is could this be one if the disks failing?

Are there any other things it could be? The windows machine is an old i5 laptop that has seen better days.

Any suggestions would be helpful

 

[Mlovelace]

Test your network first to see what your NICs/switch are capable of, then move on to the FN box once you've ruled out the network. Post you HW specs and config. What protocol are you using?

 

[Ericloewe]

Are there any other things it could be? The windows machine is an old i5 laptop that has seen better days.

There's part of your problem. Laptops universally have crummy GbE hardware.

Hi,
I have just set up a nas box with all new hardware: corei3, 8gb ram

That won't help either. 8GB of RAM is the bare minimum.

for 10 seconds or so it runs at 40gb/s then over the next 30 seconds it slows down to several kb/s.

I assume the 40Gb/s is a typo and you meant 40MB/s. If it's 40Mb/s, you probably have 100Base-T somewhere.

 

[ives31]

How do you test the hard drives?

 

[cyberjock]

How do you test the hard drives?

There's a guide on how to do that. Please search the forums.