Transfer rates copying files to NAS are slow and sporadic

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iain.hodgman
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Transfer rates copying files to NAS are slow and sporadic

Post by iain.hodgman »

When copying a large file to the F5-221 running with TOS 4.2.07 and previously with 4.1.32 the copy speed reaches 110 Mb/S then drops off 0 Mb/s then climbs back 80 Mb/s then drops to 0 Mb/s. The transfer see saws through the copy process.

The individual files are large typically 11GB to 20GB.

I also have a Synology and an ASUSTOR NAS and they copy the same file at a constant speed of approx 112 Mb/s from PC to NAS, approx 300% quicker than copying the same file from my PC to the F5-221.

Can anyone suggest a possible cause of this issue before I return the NAS to Amazon for a refund. The NAS is not functioning as one would expect and performance.

The NAS is connected directly to router by Ethernet/CAT 5 as the other NAS devices are. They don't exhibit any issues in the transfer speed. I've swapped the cables and done all the stuff and the F5-221 is just poor.
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TMroy
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Re: Transfer rates copying files to NAS are slow and sporadic

Post by TMroy »

as a member of TerraMaster team, I can tell F5-221 is a popular model.
I recommend you to do trouble shooting refer to the instruction viewtopic.php?f=75&t=527

Or replace your drive and try again.
To contact our team, please send email to following addresses, remember to replace (at) with @:
Support team: support(at)terra-master.com (for technical support only)
Service team: service(at)terra-master.com (for purchasing, return, replacement, RMA service)
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iain.hodgman
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Re: Transfer rates copying files to NAS are slow and sporadic

Post by iain.hodgman »

If the data transfer rate between TNAS and your client computer is significantly lower than the normal rate, you may need to try following troubleshootings:

Ensure Gigabit connection between TNAS and your client computer. If you do not have a Gigabit router or switch handy, you can try connecting the network cable directly between the TNAS and your client computer to check if the low data transfer rate is caused by the router or network switch.

A. Router is Gigabit and is connected directly to the NAS.

Make sure your network cable is CAT5/e, and not bent or degraded. You can try to use another cable to see if the problem persists or is solved.

A. Tried multiple cables. Makes no difference.

If your computer is connected to a wireless network, please try to use a wired network to test the data transfer rate again.

A. Connected by CAT 5 to router.

Check the status of your TNAS
If you recently set up your TNAS and created a new volume, the system inspection of new volume may consume system resources. Go to control panel in TOS to check volume status.

A. Volume status is healthy. No issues reported.

Make sure the drives installed in the TNAS are healthy. Worn out drives may prevent full utilization of the network.

A. Brand new 6TB Western Digital Blue drives.

Make sure no resource intensive tasks are not running on the TNAS. Check the CPU and drive utilization in Resource Monitor, or go to Control Panel to stop all other services except the services you need to run.

A. I've installed no additional apps since purchasing the TNAS. CPU utilization is between 5% to 30% when writing a large file to the TNAS.

Check the performance of your client computer.
A. CPU is 10%. Using a 64GB RAM, AMD Ryzen 3950X (16 core)

CPU and storage performance of your client computer may affect the speed of file transfers. You can try to transfer files with a newer or different computer. Also, the drives on your computer may not be fast enough to accommodate the maximum speed of your TNAS, so you can consider using a computer with faster drives.

A. Client computer is fitted with M.2 drives.
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iain.hodgman
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Re: Transfer rates copying files to NAS are slow and sporadic

Post by iain.hodgman »

This is the issue when writing files.

The writing keeps stalling, so the copying process takes 300% longer than copying the same file to my ASUSTOR and Synology NAS.

The issue occurs on both TNAS network ports.
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TMroy
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Re: Transfer rates copying files to NAS are slow and sporadic

Post by TMroy »

{L_BUTTON_AT}iain.hodgman
Thank you for your so details feedback. WD BLUE is a "not recommanded" drive, here is our drive compatibility list https://www.terra-master.com/global/compatibility/ please change a drive and try again, if you have a further update, please let me know.
To contact our team, please send email to following addresses, remember to replace (at) with @:
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iain.hodgman
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Re: Transfer rates copying files to NAS are slow and sporadic

Post by iain.hodgman »

Thanks
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iain.hodgman
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Re: Transfer rates copying files to NAS are slow and sporadic

Post by iain.hodgman »

I've swapped out the WD Blues for WD Reds and I'm still having the same issue with slow and stuttering copying of files to the TNAS.

I'm also experiencing long periods of no activity during the copy process, up to 10 minutes in some cases where no data transfer is occurring.

During this period, it's difficult to log into the TNAS and often takes several attempts as the login timesout.

I then removed the WD Reds and replaced them into the ASUSTOR NAS, rebuilt the RAID and copied the same files. I'm getting a steady 100 MB/s when copying the same files, over the same network, from the same PC.

I'm really struggling to find the cause of the issue.
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joeh
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Re: Transfer rates copying files to NAS are slow and sporadic

Post by joeh »

iain.hodgman wrote: 25 Dec 2020, 02:15 I've swapped out the WD Blues for WD Reds and I'm still having the same issue with slow and stuttering copying of files to the TNAS.

I'm also experiencing long periods of no activity during the copy process, up to 10 minutes in some cases where no data transfer is occurring.

During this period, it's difficult to log into the TNAS and often takes several attempts as the login timesout.

I then removed the WD Reds and replaced them into the ASUSTOR NAS, rebuilt the RAID and copied the same files. I'm getting a steady 100 MB/s when copying the same files, over the same network, from the same PC.

I'm really struggling to find the cause of the issue.
HI Iain,

I have the F2-422, which has slightly better specs than your model and even has a 10GbE port (for future proofing). I have a similar issue. My transfer speeds vary every time with any of the 3 network ports on this NAS. I don't have a 10 Gigabit network so I don't expect that port to be much faster. So far I've only transferred some media for my Plex Media Server on to it. I don't have any timeouts though. I didn't have this issue with transfer speeds on the Synology DS220J and that NAS has low end specs compared to the F2-422. I reached out to support by email on 12/20 and they haven't been of any help although they reply each day with more "tips".

I really don't recommend WD Blue label drives for any NAS. Are you using btrfs or ext4? I found that I get faster transfer speeds with ext4, but it still not a stable 112MB/s like on the Synology.

No solution so far from support. The last email from support was in the early morning of Dec. 25th shown below:

'Thank you for the test result.

The tech dept advised that the speed could be related to network environment, computers, hard drives, files and we are unable to ensure a stable speed.

It’s good to know the speed is relatively stable in ext4.

Do you think you may continue to use the ext4 format and consider this case as resolved?'

Of course nothing has been resolved. They also said it could be my drives since they're not on the compatibility list. They're not on the compatability list of Synology either.

Below is the email I first sent to support. I had even included pics showing my settings on the NAS and pics showing the fluctuating speeds to see if it would make it easier for them to provide a solution.

I have gigabit connection between router, switches, and computers. I am using SMB to connect to the NAS within Windows 10 computers. When I copy from Windows 10 desktop (hardwired ethernet Cat5e to gigabit switch) to the F2-422 1 mp4 file larger than 1 GB in size the copying speed starts between 98 MB/s and 109 MB/s. The speed then fluctuates and sometimes goes down to 0 for a second or 2 and then starts going back up, but it is never a consistent 112MB/s like I get when copying from Windows 10 to Windows 10 computers. I previously had a Synology DS220j (very slow GUI) and copying the data from my computer to the Synology NAS was a consistent 112MB/s sometimes it dropped down to 109MB/s, but it never dropped lower than that no matter the file size being transferred. The data I'm copying over to the F2-422 is the same data I copied to one of my Windows 10 computers and to the Synology NAS, but the transfer speeds to the F2-422 definitely aren't the same as the other 2 devices. The ethernet cable and switch where the F2-422 is connected are the same where the Synology was connected. I did find that copying the same MP4 file from the F2-422 to Windows the speed is between 103MB/s and 105MB/s and does not drop lower. Is there a setting within the F2-422 that needs to be changed to get a constant 109MB/s - 112MB/s transfer speed? Also, can MP4 videos be played within the TOS GUI? I click on a video and it opens a player, but just stays loading and nothing plays. Thanks for the assistance.
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iain.hodgman
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Re: Transfer rates copying files to NAS are slow and sporadic

Post by iain.hodgman »

Thanks for the reply.

I would have probably accepted their response of the non compatible drives but as I have to a set of WD reds used in the ASUSTOR and experience the same write speed fluctuations and periods of inactivity when the WD reds are placed in the TNAS, then I'm confident that the issue is with TNAS hardware or software as the same drives in the ASUSTOR and Synology NAS function as expected with a consistent 112 MB/s write speed on the same network.

As TerraMaster have not been able to offer a solution that works for me and I've spent many days trying to resolve the issue, I've initiated a return to Amazon and will go with a Synology NAS instead.

It maybe something odd in my setup, but the fact i get decent write speeds with Synology and a ASUSTOR NAS is leaving me with the question why bother with the TNAS. It's not capable of doing what I bought it for, in my setup.

A shame as the functionality is decent.

But if you can't write to the NAS reliably, then it's it not much use.
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iain.hodgman
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Re: Transfer rates copying files to NAS are slow and sporadic

Post by iain.hodgman »

The F5-221 went back to Amazon and a Synology 1520+ has arrived to replace it.

I thought I'd install the WD blue drives first as they are new and were lying around unused. If I still had speed issues with copying data, I'd use the WD Reds to at least prove whether the issue was hard drive related rather than NAS hardware or a network issue.

What a difference with the DS1520.

I selected SHR and BTRFS on setup of the volume.

I'm getting 125MB/s stable and sustainable write speed to the Synology NAS with large video files on the same network using the same ethernet cable, connected to the same router and PC using the WD Blue drives that I used in the F5-221.

No issues, no pausing, no dips in transfer speed.

The TNAS estimated 4 days to copy my data but it kept failing so I was never able to backup all my data.

The DS1520 is estimating 11 hours instead of 4 days.

So, it looks to me the original issue with slow unreliable copying of large files on the TNAS was somehow caused by the TNAS hardware or the TNAS software.
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