aaronmcl
asked on
Slow LAN
Our lan is running extremely slow and its my job to make it faster. The infrastructure consists of 1 router for internet access and vpn's. 1 10mbps switch, 1 100mbps switch, 5 dedicated servers for mail, ad, accounts, files, 30 desktops.
All servers have gigabit nic's, all desktops have 100mbps nic's, all cabling is cat5.
Im getting approx 2mbps transfer rate between desktops and servers on the lan which is not good considering all users and desktops are part of a domain.
Would the 10mbps switch be slowing the lan down to this speed on its own, or could there be another possible bottleneck?
Sorry if ive left anything out.
All servers have gigabit nic's, all desktops have 100mbps nic's, all cabling is cat5.
Im getting approx 2mbps transfer rate between desktops and servers on the lan which is not good considering all users and desktops are part of a domain.
Would the 10mbps switch be slowing the lan down to this speed on its own, or could there be another possible bottleneck?
Sorry if ive left anything out.
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ASKER
I have a 10/100mbps switch with a few gigabit ports ordered already. Should have it early next week.
I will try defraging the servers tomorrow see if that helps.
Its not possible at this moment to re-wire the building with cat5e.
What speed should i expect with this setup?
Could the 10base switch cause this bottleneck on its own?
I will try defraging the servers tomorrow see if that helps.
Its not possible at this moment to re-wire the building with cat5e.
What speed should i expect with this setup?
Could the 10base switch cause this bottleneck on its own?
The bets go 80:20 against your 10B-Switch ...
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ASKER
I have to upgrade this switch anyway, so i figured i may as well allow for future upgrades by putting the servers on their own gigabit port.
My point is im only getting around 2mbps at the minute, so i should notice a considerable increase in speed after upgrading the switch and ensuring all network devices are operating at 100/full duplex.
Ive had a play about with ethereal but need to figure out how to use it properly before i bother doing any sniffing.
Ill post back tomorrow after ive carried out my testing and award points then.
My point is im only getting around 2mbps at the minute, so i should notice a considerable increase in speed after upgrading the switch and ensuring all network devices are operating at 100/full duplex.
Ive had a play about with ethereal but need to figure out how to use it properly before i bother doing any sniffing.
Ill post back tomorrow after ive carried out my testing and award points then.
After thinking more about this, I fired up Ethereal and realized that it does not actually find collisions on a network.. So I did a search for this, and found this link, and decided I had better post it:
http://www.ethereal.com/lists/ethereal-users/200209/msg00062.html
If your switch is located in the server rack, you might be able to increase your bandwidth by connecting the servers directly via 1Gbps ports to and from the servers.. but you will need at the minimum Cat5e, and preferably Cat6 patch cables between them.. This is most likely where any bottlenecks happen anyway...
http://www.ethereal.com/lists/ethereal-users/200209/msg00062.html
If your switch is located in the server rack, you might be able to increase your bandwidth by connecting the servers directly via 1Gbps ports to and from the servers.. but you will need at the minimum Cat5e, and preferably Cat6 patch cables between them.. This is most likely where any bottlenecks happen anyway...
>My point is im only getting around 2mbps at the minute, so i should notice a considerable increase in speed
What tool did you use to arrive at that figure?
Don't even bother with Etheral for speed testing,it isn't what you want to test raw bandwidth.
Use Iperf
Try this:
http://dast.nlanr.net/Projects/Iperf/
Set up one WS as server iperf -s
The other as client
iperf -c XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
xxx= ip address of iperf server
This will give you raw throughput and test the infrastructure.
Ethereal is more of a tool to look for routing issues and poorly written programs.
What tool did you use to arrive at that figure?
Don't even bother with Etheral for speed testing,it isn't what you want to test raw bandwidth.
Use Iperf
Try this:
http://dast.nlanr.net/Projects/Iperf/
Set up one WS as server iperf -s
The other as client
iperf -c XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
xxx= ip address of iperf server
This will give you raw throughput and test the infrastructure.
Ethereal is more of a tool to look for routing issues and poorly written programs.
Where is the 10 mb hub located?
To the servers,desktops router?
To the servers,desktops router?
Thanks, and best of luck with this..
FE
FE
*You should throw the 10mbps swithc to wastebasket immediately.
*If possible, buy a swithc which has some gigabit ports for your servers.
*Make sure the disks are defragmented. Fragmentation will also decrease the transfer.
*If possible, remake your network with cat5e.