New user's registration have been closed due to high spamming and low trafic on this forum. Please contact forum admins directly if you need an account. Thanks !

Network and disk throughput

Got problems with your B2 or B3? Share and get helped!
Filius
Posts: 14
Joined: 26 Oct 2009, 02:21

Network and disk throughput

Post by Filius »

Hi,

I just want to ask here to get official answers to these questions:

1. What is the expected sustainable network throughput on the Bubba II?
2. Is there any difference from using eSATA, USB, or the internal drive?
3. What throughput can I expect once 802.11n is enabeled?

Assume, for all three cases, no significant load on the system and transfer of a big file using either Samba or AFP.
zander
Posts: 141
Joined: 01 Jan 2009, 23:16
Location: las vegas, nv, usa
Contact:

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by zander »

hi,

bubba|two has a maximum network throughput of 1 Gbit/s.

usb and eSATA it will be limited by the maximum data transfer rate of their respective protocols.

for usb 3.0 it is 1.5, 12, 480, or 4800 Mbit/s (0.2, 1.5, 60, 500 MByte/s).

for (e)SATA 1.5 Gbit/s. (this should hold for both internal and external drives.)

for 802.11n...
Data rates up to 600 Mbit/s are achieved only with the maximum of four spatial streams using a 40 MHz-wide channel. Various modulation schemes and coding rates are defined by the standard and are represented by a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) index value. you can find more on this here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11n#Data_rates

with my b2 wlan configured in network setup option, scenario 4, using a linksys wrt54gl wireless router, i have found data rates to clients on the system to be adequate for streaming itunes music or movies without noticeable latency. the clients in question were run by os-x 10.5 or vista. (i only tried to stream one at a time)

if you get a b2 with the wireless option it should meet or exceed the performance i have report here. my wrt is 2 years old. i have no experience with samba.
~alonzo...
Filius
Posts: 14
Joined: 26 Oct 2009, 02:21

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by Filius »

Ok. I know the specified max rates for all these technologies. I am asking for an official statement from Excito on what I can expect form a normal working unit.

I am asking because I have never seen performance anywhere near what one can expect form USB2.0 or gbit ethernet. At most I have seen the speed peak at about 6-8 Mbytes/s, which is less than 100mbit ethernet should be able to sutain.

Even with jumbo frames enabeled and a certified CAT6 TP-cable pulled from a retiered telecom system (IE it should be "good enough" :p)

Can you provide some real world numbers from your unit?
zander
Posts: 141
Joined: 01 Jan 2009, 23:16
Location: las vegas, nv, usa
Contact:

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by zander »

i don't know how to obtain actual data transfer rates from the server.
~alonzo...
Filius
Posts: 14
Joined: 26 Oct 2009, 02:21

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by Filius »

Bump.

Anyone?
asparak
Posts: 173
Joined: 08 Jun 2009, 07:38

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by asparak »

Simplest method and one I use is netstat or phpsysinfo. For the GUI lovers, there is vnstat. Both will allow you to monitor what is going on.
There is a how-to on the forum I wrote a few months ago about how to monitor things.
Filius
Posts: 14
Joined: 26 Oct 2009, 02:21

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by Filius »

I know how fast my rig is working. The reason I am asking is because I am disapointed. As I said (in my previous post) the B2 is performing way slower than one could expect, even with 100mbit network.

excito told me in an email that this was the performance one could expect and that the speed was crippeled to accomodate the fanless design.

So Il ask again, can I expect anywhere near gbit performance from my bubba II?
asparak
Posts: 173
Joined: 08 Jun 2009, 07:38

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by asparak »

Aah, I see what you are asking now. Well, I certainly see better than 6 - 7MB/s. I usually find the limiting factor on my network is the broadband connection speed as everything internally is gigabit.

I'll run some tests using iperf tomorrow if I get a chance and post the results, but subjectively, I currently have 2 kids playing WoW, myself streaming radio while working and my wife surfing with no lag or latency issues.

With the Bubba WiFi installed, nobody has spotted any issues with throughput. I'm certain I would have been yelled at by now if it was poor.
mad
Posts: 43
Joined: 11 Oct 2008, 14:48

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by mad »

What performace do you expect to see?

I get about 6MBytes/s when doing a file copy (1GB random content) over the Samba protocol.

[Edit]
Should be 6 not 16, sorry about that.
[/Edit]
Last edited by mad on 09 Mar 2010, 06:38, edited 1 time in total.
RandomUsername
Posts: 904
Joined: 09 Oct 2009, 18:49

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by RandomUsername »

I'm a bit worried now, I don't get anything like the transfer speeds the rest of you are posting. A file transfer over Samba hits 4 MB/s if I'm lucky.
Puma
Posts: 230
Joined: 29 Sep 2008, 06:30

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by Puma »

Hello,

I have local everything on Gigabit network and my transfer is about 6 Mbytes/sec.
Of course more speed would be nice, but I'm very happy considering Power consumption and layout Bubba TWO.

Editing photos of Video should be done local afterward copy (move) to bubba which works fine for me.

Puma
Linux is like a wigwam - no windows, no gates, apache inside!
anbn
Posts: 2
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 06:26
Location: Falsterbo, Sweden

Re: Network and disk throughput!

Post by anbn »

I see the same problem, as many others. Was hoping for an improvement with 1.3, but no difference still. Jumboframes enabled on both sides etc. Haven't seen anybody on these forums report actual transfer speeds that is over 100 Mbit (have I missed something?). If it is restricted due to energy saving why not just let us know and stop getting disappointed customers who see the Gigabit spec and actually expect that to mean something in real use.

Can someone from Excito please come forward and just let us know what real performance is possible right now! If there is any chance of future improvement let us know that too. And technically speaking, what is the problem and what can fix it. Everybody realizes there can be problems. Hiding them, however, is not okay.

Claiming Gigabit when you're ten times off is dishonest to your customers.
-------------------------------------
www.andersbergman.se
asparak
Posts: 173
Joined: 08 Jun 2009, 07:38

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by asparak »

Well... just run tests using iftop, dd and wget to my external interface and I'm seeing sustained throughput of over 19Mb/s. Limiting factor there is my 20Mb broadband connection.
From internal interface to my PC copying a 2GB file over Samba and Gigabit network, I'm getting in excess of 59Mb/s sustained, with peak of 95.4Mb/s

Limiting factor there is probably the old Cat 5e UTP patch cable from the router to Bubba (must get around to replacing the patch cables). Even Cat5e cables are only rated as up to gigabit, so old cabling will also have an impact on throughput. If you are using Cat5 UTP, it is only rated as up to to 100Mb.

Things like DECT (Wireless) telephones have been known to interfere with UTP cables and very few people have STP cabling or trunking in their house.
Filius
Posts: 14
Joined: 26 Oct 2009, 02:21

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by Filius »

Well, this is interesting.

asparak, do you have any special options in your smb.conf? Or anything network related thats not default on B2?

As I said I am using shielded cat6 cables which where good enough for carrier crade telecom equipment, so I dont think they are the problem here.
asparak
Posts: 173
Joined: 08 Jun 2009, 07:38

Re: Network and disk throughput

Post by asparak »

Well...I've tweaked my B2 to suit my own needs, but nothing specifically on the networking or samba setups. I have a replacement Cat6 STP patch cable arriving sometime today or tomorrow, so I'll re-test after I get that swapped out.

Only thing I can think of that might be significant is I have a lot of the 'normal' services such as squeezebox, ftp server, afp and pretty much everything else turned off as I have no need to use them most of the time. They are only turned on, when absolutely needed.

Cat 6 is very touchy about impedance on the terminations. Not being rude here or doubting your ability to make a cable, but have you run a cable tester on the line to make sure its not damaged or has termination issues? I always test all of my cables before using them, even if they are shop bought. Wouldn't be the first time I've had a dodgy cable arrive that is poorly terminated.

Anybody else want to report results? Am I just lucky?
Post Reply