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NAS to Windows 40Mb/s - NAS to Linux 80 Mb/s

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geekmiki

Occasional Visitor
Hi,

For the past couple of days I've noticed the strangest problem on my LAN, that I can't seem to solve:

Hardware:
-Linux server, running Ubuntu 14.04 with several file sharing services (NFS, SMB, FTP, etc.)
-Desktop PC (Core i5, 16GB RAM, Intel NIC) running in dual boot Windows 8.1 and Archlinux

I did the following test:
-Transfer a 10GB file via FTP from the server to the desktop from Windows and Archlinux, both with Filezilla and to the same harddisk (that has a Win and a Linux partition)

The results were as follows:
-Windows: ~35-40 Mb/s
-Archlinux: ~70-80 Mb/s
Same file, same client, same server

While transferring the file under Windows, I had 2 scenarios that happened randomly (tested the transfer several times):
1. Everything runs smooth and the transfers seems to be capped at 40 Mb/s
2. Sometimes the speeds went up to 70 Mb/s but then I had major OS freezes/slowdowns. None of the programs crash, the transfer continues at 70 Mb/s, but the whole OS is unresponsive.

In scenario 2, I tried to eliminate the software problem by trying the same transfer with WinSCP, and then the speed were also maxed out at 40 Mb/s.

Any clues on this issue? It seems like Windows somehow is capping the transfer speeds.
Also to note that this issue is recent and before that I was able to reach the same LAN speeds both under Windows and Archlinux.

Thank you in advance!
 
While the Windows PC is transmitting, what is the CPU usage? What program/service is using the most CPU?

Is Windows running some antivirus or automatic backup service that is overloading your PC or perhaps hindering your hard-drive's maximum read/write speeds?

Do you have all the NIC off-loading features enabled?

Is the Intel driver up to date?



Good choice with ArchLinux btw. Arch is my favorite distribution, by far. :)
 
Hi,

Thanks for your reply!

-CPU load is around 15-20%, the program using the most CPU is Filezilla, taking up 13-15%
-The only antivirus is the built-in AV in Win8
-NIC offloading features? Could you explain that one a bit more? I haven't looked into that yet.
-Intel NIC drivers are up to date

Thanks again!
 
NIC off-loading is way to drop your CPU/system load by allowing a quality NIC do more of work itself, like checksum off-loading. Wikipedia can undoubtedly explain it better than I can though.

Sometimes off-loading can be buggy, so if it is already enabled, perhaps try disabling it.



The most alarming part of your post was when you said Windows would freeze/stutter during file transfer. This says to me there is an obvious bottle-neck somewhere. I am assuming hard-drive read/write speed, possibly caused by stupid antivirus scanning everything before it gives you access.
 
As strange as it sounds, everything is back to normal without having changed any parameter... Windows mysteries...
 

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