Expected performance of a Cardbus Gigabit NIC to D-link NAS

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nickb800

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Topic # 85049 12-Jun-2011 16:55

Have been doing a bit of shopping this weekend, just ordered a D-Link DNS-320 NAS and hard drives to go with. The NAS has a gigabit interface, and I have a gigabit switch, but my laptop only has a 100Mbits interface. So Im considering buying a Cardbus (PCMCIA) gigabit NIC (Edimax PCM-LAN4203, its only ~$20).

So can I expect to get any speed improvement over inbuilt 100Mbits with a gigabit NIC running off cardbus? Can cardbus support these kinds of speeds in the real world? Will the D-Link become a bottleneck?

I realise that for all sorts of reasons I wont get anywhere near gigabit speed when transfering a file in the real world, but since the NIC is only $20, i think it will be worthwhile for me even if it only increases transfer speeds by 5mbps.

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Spyware

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Reply # 480372 12-Jun-2011 17:49

Comment: Dlink NAS boxes are dreadful products, I can't image it sustaining fast Ethernet speeds let alone better.

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sbiddle

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Reply # 480375 12-Jun-2011 18:01

Yoru best bet is to search and see what sort of performance the NAS offers. Most low end Gigabit units don't offer any significant performance gains over 100Mbps.

nickb800

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Reply # 480387 12-Jun-2011 18:27

Thanks spyware, really helpful. Ive done my research and know its not the best available but it meets my needs the best for the price.

@sbiddle Ive looked around and ive seen reports of it peaking at ~25MB/s so it seems gigE will provide some benefit.

Equally important to this is how cardbus handles gigE NICs. In the abscence of any specific advice, I might buy the NIC and give it a go

CYaBro

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Reply # 480393 12-Jun-2011 19:04

I wouldn't bother.
I have one of those D-Link NAS units and had it running on a gigabit LAN for a while but still got horrible transfer speeds to/from machines with gigabit NICs.
Have it running on 100Mbps now.

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nickb800

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Reply # 480404 12-Jun-2011 19:24

CYaBro: I wouldn't bother.
I have one of those D-Link NAS units and had it running on a gigabit LAN for a while but still got horrible transfer speeds to/from machines with gigabit NICs.
Have it running on 100Mbps now.

Thanks, good to know

raytaylor

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Reply # 480806 13-Jun-2011 23:20

I would expect that a windows pc to windows pc on a standard hard drive would run at 300mbit when doing a large file transfer on a gigabit network connection.

But i agree, the dlink units are pretty crap so i wouldnt expect this speed from the nas.

Ray Taylor
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nickb800

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Reply # 482540 18-Jun-2011 13:50

Have been quite happy with the d-link. Firmware is a bit buggy and basic, but transfer speeds have been consistent, at just under 10MB/s. Not the best, but about what I expected for the money, so Im happy.

I decided to order the cardbus adapter yesterday, and with it have been getting ~20-30MB/s over gigabit, albeit with more variability than fast ethernet. Only problem is that the 20M patch cable i had previously installed under the floor doesnt want to do gigabit, so Im hoping its just a case of dodgy crimping rather than dodgy cable, otherwise its time for yet another upgrade lol

jjnz1

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Reply # 482590 18-Jun-2011 16:01

I have just thrown out my DNS-320. Well not quite thrown out, but I no longer use it.

I was using WD 'green' drives which had advanced formatting (4K drives). The speeds I got from it were dreadful.

Over 1000Mb/s, I was getting about 5-10MB/s read and write. A friend using his DNS-320, gets around 20MB/s not using advanced format drives.

I have moved onto PC based Freenas 7 for my green drives and now get around 70-105MB/s. (Freenas 8 doesn't yet cope with 4K drives, as the 20MB/s speed reflects).

If you can, spend a little bit more money and grab a second hand PC off trademe. Speeds will be much better than a cheap standalone NAS unit, plus you most probably can install more HDD's.

Also, have a look at http://www.pp.co.nz/products.php?pp_id=AA21652

I have two of these drive bays, and they are great, especially with SATA hotswap enabled.

raytaylor

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Reply # 482593 18-Jun-2011 16:09

If the cable under the floor doesnt go around too many bends, you could use it as a draw line and pull through a cat6 cable?

Arent most cat5 cables rated to do 1gbit at short distances?

Ray Taylor
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nickb800

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Reply # 482602 18-Jun-2011 16:25

raytaylor: If the cable under the floor doesnt go around too many bends, you could use it as a draw line and pull through a cat6 cable?

Arent most cat5 cables rated to do 1gbit at short distances?

Luckily it was just the terminations that were the problem - one plug that I had terminated had mangled outer pins, and the original plug on the other end had two pairs terminated, and two pairs sitting just above the pins, not making contact, so was only running at half duplex. Re-terminated both ends and now Im away laughing at gigE.
This cable is cat5e but I think cat5 would also support gigE
Yep using it as a draw wire would have been plan b.

nickb800

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Reply # 482614 18-Jun-2011 16:48

jjnz1: I have just thrown out my DNS-320. Well not quite thrown out, but I no longer use it.

I was using WD 'green' drives which had advanced formatting (4K drives). The speeds I got from it were dreadful.

Over 1000Mb/s, I was getting about 5-10MB/s read and write. A friend using his DNS-320, gets around 20MB/s not using advanced format drives.

I have moved onto PC based Freenas 7 for my green drives and now get around 70-105MB/s. (Freenas 8 doesn't yet cope with 4K drives, as the 20MB/s speed reflects).

If you can, spend a little bit more money and grab a second hand PC off trademe. Speeds will be much better than a cheap standalone NAS unit, plus you most probably can install more HDD's.

Also, have a look at http://www.pp.co.nz/products.php?pp_id=AA21652

I have two of these drive bays, and they are great, especially with SATA hotswap enabled.

Thats good to know - I wont go taking apart my WD external drive in that case then.
I went for a seagate ST2000DL003, 2TB and 4K but the d-link handles it.

I was tempted to go the PC route, but I dont need a huge amount of storage so this suits me fine. The main limitations are the basic torrent client and lack of direct connect support (we run a dc network in the flat). Ive had a go installing fun plug but my command-line skills are nil so its a bit tedious lol. If I cant get funplug working then i might end up going the PC route.

Whats the advantage of Freenas over say ubuntu? Low use of system resources?