XS708T Connection is very slow, especially with LAG enabled

Question

Hi everyone,&nbsp;I just purchased a Netgear XS708T 10 Gbit ProSafe Managed switch.&nbsp; My hope was to be able to set up a dual-10GbE connection with two Mac computers.&nbsp; Each computer has a 2-Port 10GbE network card.&nbsp;After successfully setting this up I'm noticing that the speeds with this switch are incredibly slow.&nbsp; Somewhere around 300 MB/sec range read/write speeds.&nbsp; The strange thing is that those speeds go UP when there is just a single link!&nbsp; But even then it doesn't come close to approaching 800-900 MB/sec which is what I would expect on a single link, much less a double link.&nbsp;What is wrong with this switch?&nbsp;BobZelin&nbsp;I notice you've had issues with these in your NAS setups.&nbsp; Do I just need to get a different switch?&nbsp; I was looking at this from QNAP as an alternative.https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/qsw-m1208-8c&nbsp;Thanks,JD

BobZelin · Answer

It appears (and someone should correct me if I am wrong) that Netgear is no longer interested in their "low end" 10G switches.

I don't see any development work on this entire line. They are promoting the NDI series switches, and the more expensive M4300 and M4500 series, but there appears to be no development work on the XS series 10G switches. The XS708T (which I understand is being discontinued) has been a good switch, but it has to be setup correctly. To see improved performance on a LAG, you MUST select LACP and not STATIC for the LAG. This applies to the server side (or computer side) as well as the 10G switch size. This is not an option - you MUST select LACP (which is referred to in servers as IEEE 802.3ad

But yea - I don't use LACP LAG's unless I have a ton of users. And for only an 8 bay with 6 users to your switch, and the server - you probably don't need LACP - you won't see a speed benefit.

But yea - the QNAP QSW-M1208-8C is great. I have been thrilled with the new Ubiquiti Enterprise XG24, which is a 24 port 10G switch for only $1300, but you MUST have a Ubiquiti controller (like the Dream Machine Pro from Ubiquiti) to get this setup and configured. You will see others say good things about Mikrotik, but I have not tried their 10G switches.

The worst Netgear switches are the XS728T and XS748T. The firmware is terrible (the ports die, and you have to do a factory default to get them back up and working). I have complained about this, and saw others on this forum complain about the same issue, but when you ask Netgear directly, they say "we never heard of that problem". The XS724EM, which is a "less pro" version of the XS728T has none of these issues, so the problem is definately in the firmware - which appears will never be fixed.

With all of this boring info said - you don't get greater bandwidth to a client computer - you get redundancy. You won't get 20 Gb/sec to a client computer with a dual port 10G card and the LAG setup properly. The LAG is for server to switch or switch to switch - not client to switch. I have no idea of what you are connecting to, but even a 16 bay NAS cannot achieve 20 Gb/sec - a normal 10G connection is 1000 MB/sec, and with 2 - 3 users running at this speed, you still saturate your typical SATA drive NAS from QNAP, Synology or Netgear.

Bob Zelin

jdmarlow · Answer

Bob thanks for such a fast and helpful reply. And thank you for the clarity that 10 GbE LAG won't achieve 20 Gb/sec to client. I may end up just going without a LAG connection in that case, since it seems to be a bit faster overall. I'm leaning toward eventually getting a NAS but at the moment my hope is to just be able to mount drives across a network over SMB and achieve a rightful 10GbE speed (or as fast as the drive speed can achieve if that is slower).

I suppose in this case I'll hold on to the XS708T unless you think I would do better with the QNAP for a more reliable 10GbE connection overall?

jdmarlow · Answer

Just for reference...these are the comparisons between my NVME drive on one client computer.&nbsp; The faster one is local disk test.&nbsp; The slower one is over a single link 10GbE switch with the XS708T.&nbsp; Still seems pretty slow to me....

jdmarlow · Answer

Here is the screen shot of network speed...

BobZelin · Answer

Historically, I have had few issues with the XS708T. &nbsp;Although today, I would only select a QSW-M1208-8C for a new 10G switch.&nbsp;I have been installing Netgear XS series 10G switches since the "pre release" of the original 12 port XS712T, which was the first cheap10G switch ever available. &nbsp;Remember - 10G switches used to cost $15,000 until Netgear got into the game. So I have installed over 1000of this series of switches. &nbsp;It's sad to see that Netgear has lost interest in this. &nbsp;I don't get it. &nbsp;The market still exists for this stuff. &nbsp; I have been very loyal over the years - but the world moves on, and there are always new competitors.&nbsp;Bob Zelin&nbsp;&nbsp;

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XS708T Connection is very slow, especially with LAG enabled

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