crispiano
asked on
slow file transfer across network
When we copy files from one drive or system to another across our network the speed is often terrible, eg:10mb of files can take 20 minutes. If I reboot the system I am using the problem goes for about 15 minutes and then returns. If I transfer the same 10mb of files but as a ZIP file, it takes only a couple of seconds. The problem is not specific to one client machine.
In terms of servers we have enough firepower to run 1000 people (but it currently services only 10 people), mail and file/print are on seperate dedicated servers.I simply can't see a reason for speed problems.
I can't quite figure this out and would be grateful of a few pointers as to where the problem may lay.
Thanks
P
In terms of servers we have enough firepower to run 1000 people (but it currently services only 10 people), mail and file/print are on seperate dedicated servers.I simply can't see a reason for speed problems.
I can't quite figure this out and would be grateful of a few pointers as to where the problem may lay.
Thanks
P
You don't say much about your environment, high end switched keep counters on each port which might give you some insight into the problem.
Cabling is the usual culprit unless some of your machines are infected with blaster or something else that's saturating your network. If your cabling is CAT3 you should knock you machines down to 10mb. If it's CAT5 or 5E and you've eliminated worms or bad nic cards (unusual today) from saturating the network you'll have to test your cable runs. A decent cable installation usually includes test data on every run.
To use a sniffer in a switched environment you'll have to have a switch that can copy all traffic to one port, otherwise you'll only pick up broadcast traffic.
If you have a 100MB full duplex switch, set your machine, the switch and the server's NIC to this setting rather than AUTO NEGOTIATE, replace those patch cables with new factory made cables and try again. If that doesn't help, get some sniffer software on a laptop and see what kind of traffic you're dealing with.
Cabling is the usual culprit unless some of your machines are infected with blaster or something else that's saturating your network. If your cabling is CAT3 you should knock you machines down to 10mb. If it's CAT5 or 5E and you've eliminated worms or bad nic cards (unusual today) from saturating the network you'll have to test your cable runs. A decent cable installation usually includes test data on every run.
To use a sniffer in a switched environment you'll have to have a switch that can copy all traffic to one port, otherwise you'll only pick up broadcast traffic.
If you have a 100MB full duplex switch, set your machine, the switch and the server's NIC to this setting rather than AUTO NEGOTIATE, replace those patch cables with new factory made cables and try again. If that doesn't help, get some sniffer software on a laptop and see what kind of traffic you're dealing with.
What is your OS platform - version, service pack/patch level, etc. - both server and client?
ASKER
Both servers (mail and file) are running NT 4 Server SP6a. Clients are runing XP Pro SP1.
Before anything, get ethreal and do some sniffing. You must see what kind of traffic is going accross your network before you transmit the file and after. Dowload ethreal and just sniff for a few minutes and see the results, right away you may have an answer.
Ethreal works wonders!
Resus.
Ethreal works wonders!
Resus.
Are you transferring these files to and from the file/print server or peer-to-peer? When you speak of transferring 10 meg as zip, is that 10 meg before zipping? How big is the zip file?
I'm thinking that if you're going to the server with these files, your server may be the problem. Is it configured with a separate drive for data files, or is everythng on C? Have you given it a fixed-size swap file? Is the swap file on the same drive as the data files? Are your print spooler files on the same drive as the data files?
It is possible you may have a file caching issue or a disk fragmentation issue, hard to say.
I'm thinking that if you're going to the server with these files, your server may be the problem. Is it configured with a separate drive for data files, or is everythng on C? Have you given it a fixed-size swap file? Is the swap file on the same drive as the data files? Are your print spooler files on the same drive as the data files?
It is possible you may have a file caching issue or a disk fragmentation issue, hard to say.
ASKER
The file is 30mb unzipped and approx 20mb zipped, just some dll's etc.
I have 3 drives on the server and a swap file for each drive, 1024mb - 2048mb for each. Therefore there is a swap file on the drive containing the data files and obviously it just sits in the root of the drive.
The files are being transferred from the server (network drive) to a client (local drive) (XP Pro).
Print spooler files are on a different drive to my data files, in fact the drive containing the data files is only used for data and nothing else.
I have 3 drives on the server and a swap file for each drive, 1024mb - 2048mb for each. Therefore there is a swap file on the drive containing the data files and obviously it just sits in the root of the drive.
The files are being transferred from the server (network drive) to a client (local drive) (XP Pro).
Print spooler files are on a different drive to my data files, in fact the drive containing the data files is only used for data and nothing else.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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What protocol(s) are you running?
Have you disabled unnecessary services on the XP machines? See www.blackviper.com for help on what services are and are not needed.
How much physical RAM is in the server?
Have you disabled unnecessary services on the XP machines? See www.blackviper.com for help on what services are and are not needed.
How much physical RAM is in the server?
ASKER
Firstly wanna say thanks for the input.
Server has 2GB of RAM and we use mapped drives as standard practice. We use bulk standard D-Link 10/100 Fast Ethernet switches, all cabling is CAT5e and CAT6. The only protocol I'm running is TCP/IP.
One thing I've noticed is that the client we transfer files to doesn't have the speed problem straight after a reboot, it hits about 10 minutes after.
I'm gonna make the changes to the swap files as suggested by Chicagoan and check the services running on the client as suggested by Shine On. I'll let you know the outcome.
Server has 2GB of RAM and we use mapped drives as standard practice. We use bulk standard D-Link 10/100 Fast Ethernet switches, all cabling is CAT5e and CAT6. The only protocol I'm running is TCP/IP.
One thing I've noticed is that the client we transfer files to doesn't have the speed problem straight after a reboot, it hits about 10 minutes after.
I'm gonna make the changes to the swap files as suggested by Chicagoan and check the services running on the client as suggested by Shine On. I'll let you know the outcome.
Hello this question has been open a while please take the time to come back and clean it up.
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Pete
www.petenetlive.com
Closing Questions
https://www.experts-exchange.com/help.jsp#hs5
Best Wishes
Pete
www.petenetlive.com
Network monitoring and troubleshooting
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Fluke Gear
One Touch (approx $5000)
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NetTool (approx $1400)
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OptiView (approx $17000)
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Optiview Workgroup analyser
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DSP-4300 Tester (approx $5000)
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Wave Runner Wireless Tester (For Compaq Ipaq) (approx $4000)
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*****Software*****
Fluke Optiview (Network Inspector) (approx $8000)
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Ethereal (FREEWARE) - Best for sniffing traffic in and out of an interface
http://www.ethereal.com/
Sniffer Pro - Investigator (approx $5000)
http://www.snifferpro.co.uk/
Sniffer Basic (approx $1000)
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Solarwinds Engineers Toolkit (price £688.00 sterling)
(This is a fantastic product - I use it every day)
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MTRG (Multi Router Traffic Grapher) (FREEWARE)
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IPERF (FREEWARE)
http://dast.nlanr.net/Projects/Iperf/
NetworkActiv Scanner 4.0 (FREEWARE)
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NetIQ (FREEWARE)
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Cheers!