Whats slowing me down?

[Chris230291]

Hi all. Just wondering if anyone can help me find out why the read/writes to my server are so slow?

Server specs...

i7 860 S
GA H55M-UD2H (Gigabit ethernet)
16 GB Corsair Vengeance
2720 GSL RocketRAID
8 X 2TB WD Caviar Greens in RAID Z

This is plugged into an Airport Express, then that plugged into an Airport Extreme.
These are the results i get on a wired connection...

The connection goes from the Airport Extreme, via a switcher hub to my desktop rig. I retried the test on a laptop that i plugged directly into the Airport Extreme and i got exactly the same results.

Any ideas on how to tackle this guys?

All help is appreciated,
Chris.

 

[jgreco]

You need to check up on the health of your hamsters. One of them may be ill or dead.

It is quite possible one of them fell into the gears and locked your Ethernet interface at 100Mbps based on those speeds.

 

[Chris230291]

You need to check up on the health of your hamsters. One of them may be ill or dead.

It is quite possible one of them fell into the gears and locked your Ethernet interface at 100Mbps based on those speeds.

HAHA Ok. So basically you're saying it's the POS onboard ethernet?
I do have some DLink ethernet cards knocking about somewhere. Would it be worth giving one of those a try?

This is the kind i have...
http://www.dlink.com/uk/en/business...-528t-dge-528t-copper-gigabit-pci-card-for-pc

Is there a list or database of proven hardware i can take a look at?

 

[jgreco]

No, I'm merely saying it could be the POS onboard ethernet, both being a Realtek and the mysteriously-looking-like-100Mbps-ethernet numbers you provide would each independently suggest examining those possibilities. You might want to pull out iperf to run some tests across the network for network throughput. Bad performance on that, well, problem identified. Good performance, well, that doesn't necessarily indicate that the network is not the problem, but it means the solution isn't as trivial.

The best Ethernets for FreeNAS and FreeBSD are server-grade ethernets. Quite frankly, a lot of companies make chips destined for cards that will wind up in the $5 bargain bin, and they're a ripoff even at that price. We've seen people have no problems with a Realtek; with a well-behaved chip and sufficient CPU, it is probably even fine for a lot of uses. But we've also seen a lot of people come into the forum and run into Realtek issues.

On the flip side, the D-Link card you list appears to also be a Realtek.

So do this:

1) log in the console and run "ifconfig re0" and look to see what sort of speed has been negotiated. on an Intel:

Code:

# ifconfig em0
em0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
        status: active

are some of the useful bits. If it doesn't say 1000baseT/full, problem.

2) run iperf to your PC or whatever and see what sorts of numbers you get. if not at least 500Mbits/s, severe problem. should be 900Mbits/s plus.

3) if problems above, you could speculatively try the D-Link to see if maybe it has fewer dead hamsters onboard

4) if still no resolution, buy an Intel. Even a desktop card ought to get you good speed.

But if it doesn't seem to be the network, there are other things to look at. I just like picking on Realtek.

 

[Chris230291]

HAHA Cheers fella, thats very helpful!

I ran ifconfig re0 and...problem?

Code:

[root@Server ~]# ifconfig re0                                                 
re0: flags=8943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 150
0                                                                             
        options=2099<RXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,VLAN_HWCSUM,WOL_MAGIC>     
        ether 1c:6f:65:a7:64:db                                               
        inet 10.0.1.200 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 10.0.1.255               
        media: Ethernet autoselect (100baseTX <full-duplex>)                   
        status: active 

Clearly says 100 base, so a new NIC is required?

I'm going to try this iperf thing you mentioned to check everything else.

 

[jgreco]

No, stop. Figure out why it's 100baseTX. Something's wrong. Replace cable. Then rearrange network and make sure it's on a gigabit port (preferably one known to work). IF ALL THAT FAILS you can try forcing it to 1000/full.

See, I'm even psychic, didn't I say in my first response, "It is quite possible one of them fell into the gears and locked your Ethernet interface at 100Mbps based on those speeds"

If you can fix it you'll get better speeds.

 

[joeschmuck]

Okay I'm confused [what's new] but what is the physical connection from the FreeNAS computer to the computer running the test? Are we running wireless? Or do you have the FreeNAS machine connected with a Cat 5 cable to your Airport Extreme and your test computer connected to your Airport Extreme also with a Cat 5 cable?

The Airport Express I believe only has a 100Mb port.

 

[Chris230291]

Alright guys, joeschmuck is right. I never realised the Airport Express is only 100 Mb! We only bought it for our printer and to extend the wireless outside, the fact it had a port was just a bonus.
I will have to move the server elsewhere when i can.

Sorry to mess you guys around.


EDIT: Can i have the internet pass through my server from the Airport Extreme (Gb), then to the Airport Express (No Gb).

Would adding an additional NIC automatically enable this functionality or would i need to set stuff up to pass through?

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[Chris230291]

This is what I'm thinking...

Is it possible?

 

[jgreco]

Free*BSD* is totally capable of doing that.

...

wtf. Interesting. FreeNAS actually does appear to include the ethernet bridging functionality. However, I do not know if there's any way to configure this through the GUI. Basically it works like this:

1) Configure the interface facing the Extreme with IP, etc.

2) Configure the interface facing the Express as just "up"

3) Run "ifconfig bridge0 create; ifconfig bridge0 addm em0 addm em1 up" (assuming your interfaces are em0/em1)

No promises it'll work but it ought to. You'd need to figure out a way to tease the system into doing that every reboot, or manually do it every reboot.

 

[joeschmuck]

Doesn't your Airport Extreme have several Gigabit ports? If so then I'd connect the server to the Airport Extreme, your "rest of network" to the Airport Extreme, and leave it at that. The Airport Express would get it's data over Wifi, right? The speeds may not be fantastic but it should work, just not well for HD content streaming.

 

[jgreco]

Yeah, but he asked "Is it possible." :D

 

[joeschmuck]

What I don't get is why use these WiFi adapters if he wants hard lines to connect them. Maybe he misrepresented it in the diagram and should have left out the green connection from the server to the Airport Express. Who knows. I would choose the simple way and just add a network switch but that's me.

 

[jgreco]

For the vast majority of home users, how many of them have a rational, planned, well-thought-out and well-executed network design? It is pretty common to see all ports full and just tryin' to figure out how to do it without spending unnecessary money.

 

[joeschmuck]

I understand that one. I've been down that road before trying to make a few wireless routers bridge a gap I had. I got it working but ended up laying Cat5E cable a few months later and much happier.

 

[jgreco]

1999 called and they want their crummy Cat5e back.

We've been laying 6A.

 

[Chris230291]

Free*BSD* is totally capable of doing that.

...

wtf. Interesting. FreeNAS actually does appear to include the ethernet bridging functionality. However, I do not know if there's any way to configure this through the GUI. Basically it works like this:

1) Configure the interface facing the Extreme with IP, etc.

2) Configure the interface facing the Express as just "up"

3) Run "ifconfig bridge0 create; ifconfig bridge0 addm em0 addm em1 up" (assuming your interfaces are em0/em1)

No promises it'll work but it ought to. You'd need to figure out a way to tease the system into doing that every reboot, or manually do it every reboot.

Sweet! I will have to have a play. Sounds simple, but i always run into problems with the command line :/

Doesn't your Airport Extreme have several Gigabit ports? If so then I'd connect the server to the Airport Extreme, your "rest of network" to the Airport Extreme, and leave it at that. The Airport Express would get it's data over Wifi, right? The speeds may not be fantastic but it should work, just not well for HD content streaming.

The Extreme ports are full. In fact, we need to use a switch hub upstairs to connect everything.
The Express gets it's internet via a cable from the Extreme. We could use WiFi to bridge, but we may as well use a cable as the server can not go next to the Extreme anyways. This cable is the one i want to try and pass through the server.

What I don't get is why use these WiFi adapters if he wants hard lines to connect them. Maybe he misrepresented it in the diagram and should have left out the green connection from the server to the Airport Express. Who knows. I would choose the simple way and just add a network switch but that's me.

A switch is an option... But lets try the free way first :P

For the vast majority of home users, how many of them have a rational, planned, well-thought-out and well-executed network design? It is pretty common to see all ports full and just tryin' to figure out how to do it without spending unnecessary money.

I'd like to think it's very well thought out. It would take FAR too long to draw it all out though :(

 

[jgreco]

I'd like to think it's very well thought out. It would take FAR too long to draw it all out though :(

If you're using CPE devices as key bits of your network, I'm just going to define that as "exactly what I'm referring to." It's a natural thing to get an Internet connection for your computer, then when you want wireless, to throw an Airport in the mix, and then to get to a new second computer you connect it to the second Airport LAN jack, etc., and then when wireless coverage isn't good you get another gizmo, etc.

Or you start out the other way. You install cabling to each room, run it to a central rack, stick a rackmount switch in the rack. That's how it would be done in a professionally-installed commercial deployment, and it is totally expandable and avoids the sorts of issues that led to the creation of this thread. But you don't see it done residentially, usually, because it is rarely worth the investment to "do it right", and it is a wicked huge amount of work for minimal return.

 

[Chris230291]

We do have cabling going to a lot of places in the house, but no commercial rack mount switch goodness lol

Anyways... I found this ...

Does this look like what i need to bridge or pass through?
Networking goes right over my head. I thought id post this here incase it's better than what you mentioned earlier.

 

[jgreco]

Wow, um, maybe there's a way to do it through the GUI. I could probably figure it out if I had some time, which I don't, at least not today, but if you do what I said above, and it works, then look at the configurations of "re0" "re1" and "bridge0". The trick would be to get the GUI to configure things that way after a reboot. But that can be fiddly. Also note that this is more of an answer to "is it possible" than a "this is a good idea to do". If you decide you need to go this route, several of us can show you how to make it stick by adding it into an rc script, but this is definitely unsupported and would need to be done after any system firmware upgrade, so it isn't a great solution.