Network / NAS speed ?
Network / NAS speed ?
Hi all
At home I have a server and a games PC, and when moving files between them the speed is around 110 megabytes per second (which is quite good). At work, the network speed is about 10 to 11 megabytes per second. With ten of us, do we really need extra resources for the one using it? Also, the NAS drive runs at the same speed—it’s a 10-bay system with two 8TB drives in a mirror RAID. I thought four 4TB drives in a RAID 10 would be better. I’m aware the IT team installed a 10 gigabit switch. Is there a bottleneck, perhaps from a 10/100 switch or cable? Any advice would be appreciated.
HDD operates slower than SSD because it's a rotating mechanical disk; the drive heads need to move and switch tracks to reach the correct sector for reading or writing, which takes time. In RAID 1 mirror setups with 8TB drives, there will be no performance improvement. A fast HDD typically reads and writes at around 200MB/s for one user and a large file. If ten people use the NAS and your PC uses only a gigabit port, even with a 10Gbe switch, your PC's maximum speed will be about 1gbps—roughly 125MB if no other users are accessing the NAS or copying files. When handling many files, speeds can drop significantly to just one-tenth of the original rate.
Although it can be many things those transfer rates are acting like you have some cable in the path running at 100mbps. If you were to see higher numbers like even 15mbytes you know that is above 100mbps so the port is likely running 1gbit. 12mbyte is about the maximum you will see on a 100mbps connection because of the overhead of things like mac addresses and headers.
First, is this your job. If there is an IT firm doing network work it probably isn't your job and management might not like you doing anything beyond submitting a trouble ticket.
BUT, it is most likely a 100Mbit network somewhere. I would troubleshoot by looking a the LEDs on the network switch. Are they all gigabit or higher ? If you see a port that is not at gigabit speed, then you can get the IT firm to investigate that.
If these are documents frequently accessed by all users, a NAS of this scale probably supports adding an SSD cache drive. This would greatly enhance performance for files that are regularly interacted with. Additionally, for storage purposes, ensuring files stay within the cache size enables rapid copying to the NAS.
It seems you're asking for clarification on the details of your findings. Could you confirm if you meant to discuss "hotspots" and explain how you discovered them? Also, could you specify what role you think the "IT firm" plays in this context?
I believe they are referring to IP phones, with PCs connected through a pass-through switch port. The less expensive or older versions typically support only Fast Ethernet. What kind of unskilled IT personnel installed a 10Gb switch and then connected all their PCs using 100Mb networking? The same people who set up a 10-bay NAS for a small office with just two drives. They seem to target flashy, costly technology aimed at management while overlooking essential components. It would be wise to challenge the IT department. It appears they prioritize eye-catching, expensive equipment that can be marketed but overlook fundamental requirements. One can hope the NAS is properly linked to the switch via a 10Gb connection.
The maximum speed you can achieve is around 12.5MBps, excluding overhead. Realistically, you’ll see around 10 or 11 Mbps after accounting for overhead.
More drives improve performance until the network becomes fully occupied, though RAID configuration also plays a role. Even with high-quality drives, a two-drive mirror typically only requires a 1GbE connection because write speeds match a single drive (read speeds can double under optimal conditions). Normal NAS usage in a small office involves less intensive sequential transfers, and non-sequential access significantly reduces throughput.
If you required 8TB of storage, four 4TB drives in RAID10 would double write speeds and potentially read speeds up to four times faster depending on data patterns (all drives can be read simultaneously). Eight 2TB drives in RAID10 would quadruple write speed. Still, achieving maximum 10GbE performance would only happen with exceptionally fast drives and only during large sequential transfers from a single PC. To save costs while maintaining capacity, using RAID5 is common and often recommended, though it doesn’t improve write performance and may slightly reduce read speeds.
Depending on future needs, leaving some empty bays can be sensible, but keeping 8 out of 10 unused was excessive. A 10-bay NAS would likely suffice for a 100-person office handling average file storage—not massive rendering files. Your organization might have saved thousands by opting for a smaller 2-bay 2.5GbE NAS with matching switch, achieving comparable performance. I assure you the IT team inflated the retail price of both the NAS and the switch by at least 20%.