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Protocols and xfer speeds

T

Techwhore

Golden Member
On my LAN, i have:

Active:
1 x 9x box
1 x 2k box
2 x linux boxes

Soon to be active:
1 x mac
1 x linux maybe mac (not sure what OS yet)

I currently use TCP so they can all communicate but i'm noticing slow xfers.

Between my 2k and linux file server i'm only seeing about 20 Mbps, both machines have 100 Mbps NICs and run through a 100 Mbps switch.. all the other cards are 10 so they're irrelevant.

When I had 3 2k boxes using NetBeui and all 100 Mbps cards i saw between 80 and 90 Mbps...

I've heard that using TCP the data is sent through the cable modem and back, thus slowing the xfer down, is this true? If it is, what can i do to speed it up?

I don't think NetBeui is available for Linux, but I know appletalk is available for both linux and windows... I've heard that appletalk is slow though. Would i be better off switching to appletalk?
 
I think netbeui is availablefor linux. Also make sure the cables are good. tcp is slower than netbeui, unless there is a lot of traffic (broadcast seems to slow things down). Also, if you have a switch between the two machines and both have internal ip addresses, the traffic should not have to go out through the cable modem.
 
Also, if you have a switch between the two machines and both have internal ip addresses, the traffic should not have to go out through the cable modem

That's what i would think too, but i it's the only way i can explain such slow xfers. I'll look for netbeui *nix package
 


<< Also, if you have a switch between the two machines and both have internal ip addresses, the traffic should not have to go out through the cable modem

That's what i would think too, but i it's the only way i can explain such slow xfers. I'll look for netbeui *nix package >>



Im not positive that they are available. I thought I read something about it a while back, but I definitely could be wrong. Also, traceroute from one of the tcp machines to the other and see just where those packets are going..
 


<< Also, if you have a switch between the two machines and both have internal ip addresses, the traffic should not have to go out through the cable modem

That's what i would think too, but i it's the only way i can explain such slow xfers. I'll look for netbeui *nix package >>



NetBeui is not available for *nix. And it never will, because NetBeui is a VERY bad protocol.

How netbeui works:
I constantly broadcasts the network and saying " Hey, I am here!". So EACH computer picks this package and looks inside. Now, if you have 10 computers, al of them send packats and all of them open them. So, you are wasting your bandwidth and computer's CPU time.

The good thing about Netbeui is that is works on lan only and there is no IP->MAC translation routine, but modern net cards cache recent IP->MAC translations in small translation table anyway, so it is not an issue anymore.

Summary: Get rid of netbui as soon as possible if you don't want to slow down every computer in the office. Netbios over the TCP/IP gives you much more flexibility without sacrifice of speed.

As about transfer rates... Check the drivers and settings. My linux box (100 Mb card) was automatically downgraded to 10Mb by driver, since it talks to 10Mb router more than to anybody else. May be that's the issue.
 
i ran a traceroute and it gets there with no stops between. I use NAT so i guess it couldn't stop anywhere else.

Thanks for the link to LLC
 
How are you transferring the files? If it's via SMB that's probably the culprit, try FTP and see if it's still slow.
 
i am xfering via smb BUT ftp is FAR slower. Although I use NAT, FTP goes to the router and back, as if it were coming from outside. I only see about 100 KB / sec via FTP 🙁
 

Then you need to fix your routing problems before any tests can be reliable.

I don't think ftp is a good indicator in this situation. The file transfer protocol by nature has to be transmitted outside of the network.
 


<<
Then you need to fix your routing problems before any tests can be reliable.

I don't think ftp is a good indicator in this situation. The file transfer protocol by nature has to be transmitted outside of the network. >>



I do transfers all the time from one machine to another on my local segment without going through my dsl.
 
Have you tried to isolate the DSL/cable router. get yourself a good switch and then test. I would not think that the router would have anything to do with it, but you never know. what software are you using to test the speeds? Maybe it is hosed.

With TCP/Ip it will be alittle slower, but the atvantages of IP out weight for me. tru adding both protocols and putting net beui 1st.

I just hate all of the broadcast on my network.
 
Have you tried to isolate the DSL/cable router. get yourself a good switch and then test. I would not think that the router would have anything to do with it, but you never know. what software are you using to test the speeds? Maybe it is hosed.


I use a Netgear FS105 5 port 10/100 switch behind my linux router and don't have any software to "accurately" measure the speeds. I've mapped the drive and transfer files over the network that way, u can do the math according to file size and time of transfer to get an idea of the speed. RIght now i'm seeing about 20 Mbps...
 
Go to NetIQ.com and get a copy of Qcheck. It's designed to test link speeds.

Is it equally slow in both directions?

If you're using a Linux box as a router, have you trimmed down the kernel? What have you got for RAM and Hard drive? Processor speed?

Buy a short crossover cable (or make one if you have the materials and know how) and see what the transfers look like direct, PC-to-PC. That will at least give you some indication of whether it's one of the PCs or the router.

You may also want to check out the speed tests at DSL reports, and check out the diagnostics and tweaks (like changing the windows sizes, etc).

Good Luck

Scott
 
If you're using a Linux box as a router, have you trimmed down the kernel? What have you got for RAM and Hard drive? Processor speed?

The router uses a custom made version of Red Hat 7.1 called Clarkconnect, it comes trimmed down.

The 2k box runs a Duron 600 @ 1000, 256 MB ram and an IBM Deskstar 15 gig HD
The Mandrake 8.1 box runs a Pentium 90, 64 MB ram and it's main storage drive is a Maxtor 30 gig (ATA 100) connected to a Promise IDE controller card to gain ATA 100 support, the other disks are SCSI but smaller.

I don't think networking, like this anyway, is CPU intensive or requires high amount of ram.
 
*SLOW* disks can be a problem for high transfer speeds... And this is only happening between those 3 computers?

It's actually only happening between the fileserver (mandrake) and my workstation (2k) because all the other computers only have 10 base NICs, so they're irrelevant.

It "could" be the disks, but i doubt it since i'm using using an ATA 100 controller with a DMA 5 drive and scsi 2 hdd at 40 MB/s... is there a benchmarking prog of sorts that i can use in linux to get a measure of their performance, like a sisoft sandra or somethign?
 


<< *SLOW* disks can be a problem for high transfer speeds... And this is only happening between those 3 computers? It's actually only happening between the fileserver (mandrake) and my workstation (2k) because all the other computers only have 10 base NICs, so they're irrelevant. It "could" be the disks, but i doubt it since i'm using using an ATA 100 controller with a DMA 5 drive and scsi 2 hdd at 40 MB/s... is there a benchmarking prog of sorts that i can use in linux to get a measure of their performance, like a sisoft sandra or somethign? >>



freshmeat.net

So how wel did ftp do on your benchmark transfers?
 
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